True Meaning of Freedom

I never knew the true meaning of the wordcompleted High School. Recruiters came to our High
"freedom" until about six years ago, even though ISchool and pitched their promises of seeing the world
grew up and lived in our great USA " Land of theand having a real career. I knew there had to be
free, home of the brave" my whole life. I was born insomething better for me, so I decided to join the
a small, sleepy town on the outskirts of Northern NJ.military. PA has hard winters and buggy, humid
When I was six years old my family moved to Northsummers. I shortly found out that I had orders to
East Pennsylvania because my Dad and GrandfatherCA. WOW! That was exciting.
wanted to start a veal business.My last three years of High School were spent in a
My Dad was a hard worker all his life, taking odd jobsVo-Tech Trades School learning Plumbing and Heating.
wherever he could find work. I remember my MomI joined the US Navy Seabees to become a Steel
telling me he once had a job picking large rocks outWorker, which was right down my alley since I first
of the road before the big machines came to have itlearned to weld at age twelve.
paved. My Dad never finished school; he dropped outThe Seabees are the construction force of the Navy
after the 10th grade. My Grandfather worked inand have a motto of "Can Do!" During my career I
factories all his life. He mostly was a piece worker,learned and mastered countless repair skills from all
getting paid by how many parts he produced perthe construction trades. For the last six years of my
day. Both of them wanted a fresh start by owningcareer I was a Certified Instructor. I was sent all
their own business and living the American dream.over the US teaching Safety and Environmental
Veal are baby cows that have not yet fully maturedCourses. I also wrote several courses that are still
and have very soft, tender meat. They bought a runbeing taught today. For twelve years I did handyman
down farm which included 93 acres of wooded, hillywork on the weekends for relatives, friends and
land. The farm house was a two story structure thatneighbors, while still on active duty. I couldn't believe
had large rooms and a porch that ran the full lengthhow people on the west coast didn't know how to
of the front, and a small porch in the back. The farmdo the simplest repairs. We never called a repair man
house sat on a hill overlooking a creek. The barn waswhere I was from; it was always Grandpa, Uncle Bill,
huge; it had dozens of stalls running the full length onDad, the neighbor who fixed everything.
both sides. My uncle would come up every year fromAfter serving 20 years I received an honorable
Jersey with his buddies and go deer hunting on thedischarge. I was hired by a company just two days
property. I loved walking in the woods and playing inlater who thought I was perfect for the position of
the creek. I was young at the time, but I rememberHazardous Waste Tech. I only lasted 3 months
working in the barn, feeding the calves and sweepingbefore being let go. I was ashamed of that for a
the floor. Long hours were spent in that barn 7 dayslong time afterward but it turned out to be a big
a week looking after the calves and tending to all theblessing in disguise. "Working for a company was no
chores involved. But my Dad and Grandpa didn't care,different than being in the Navy!" I had to wear a
they were their own bosses. Their Farm businessuniform, was told where and when to be
lasted 10 years. As soon as the veal industry wentsomewhere, when I could have a break, when I
bust, so did they.could eat and when I could go home. That's not
Environmental groups complained about baby animalsfreedom; that's not what I spent twenty years of
being killed for food. My Dad and Grandpa workedmy life defending! So, I decided to start my own
like devils possessed to keep the farm running butbusiness. I come from a long line of entrepreneurs;
there was nothing we could do. We had to sell theworking for myself is in my blood. My Great Uncle
farm and move to a small town 20 miles away. Mywas a Painting Contractor; my Uncle was a Home
family bought an acre of land with a mobile home andBuilding Contractor. My Cousin owns his own Body
placed another mobile home beside it for my MomShop; my Mom also had a house cleaning business for
and Dad, me and my younger sister to live in. Mya few years.
Grandparents lived in the other one. The propertySo after my three month stint working for a
also had a large garage on it that was built prior to uscompany I called all my weekend customers and told
moving there. The garage had a large shop in thethem that I was going "Full time" and please spread
rear. I loved that place. My Dad and I were alwaysthe word. Shortly afterward I was making my living
tinkering with stuff, fixing this and making that. Myworking for myself as a Handyman. I have to admit
Dad found a job as a Janitor in a nearby hospital 5the first couple years were a bit rough, but it was all
pm to 2:30 am waxing floors and taking out theworth it, and I wouldn't trade it for the world, after
trash. My Grandfather went back to work in abeing told for twenty years how to dress, walk,
factory driving 50 miles each way to work every daygroom, live, get up, go to sleep and when to work,
until he retired several years later.when to eat. Now I set my own hours, shave when
During summer vacations I would load hay bales on aI feel like it, dress how I wish, look how I want to
wagon and stack them in the neighbor's barn for 50look and never have to run PT, stand duty, go on
cents a bale. Our back yard was up against thedeployment, prepare for inspection or go on FEX
neighbor's field so I didn't need to travel far for work.ever again. I'm now finally totally free and I
PA didn't have much else to offer anyone besidesunderstand the word freedom and would not trade it
Welfare and food stamps. At seventeen and a half Ifor anything.