Life lessons from my Pop

[zinsurance]

Guys, sorry this isn't a fishing story. Here recently my grandfather underwent knee replacement surgery, he came out just fine but over the last few years he hasn't gotten around real well, and I imagine even after his surgery he will still hobble. After visiting him here recently I've been thinking about the things he taught me growing up. When I was about 12 years old my grandparents moved into a new house. The house was in good condition but the yard had been neglected for quite some time and the gophers, moles, and weeds were in controll. Grandpa is an old timer so he trapped the gophers and moles himself and spent 30 minutes an evening picking weeds out of his lawn. Since they only lived a few blocks away I was often over at their house for this daily routine. One evening while helping him I told him about something I wanted to buy but didn't have the money for, just hoping that grandpa would come through. Instead he handed me an old spoon and told me to start digging out the gopher mound in front of me. As I dug he showed me how to follow the gophers path to find his tunnel and then showed me how to set the trap and re-cover the hole. After we were done he told me that he would pay me a couple dollars for every gopher I caught. The next morning I came over and checked the trap and low and behold I caught one. When I showed him hoping to get my money he instead handed me the trap. He told me that if I was going to have a business I needed put some money into it to have the proper equipment. I was a little dissapointed but agreed. It took me a couple weeks to catch my next gopher as I kept coming up short, I had to really learn how to get the traps properly set. No gophers and no money made it frustrating, but once I got it figured out I caught about 5 gophers in just a couple days. As I went to collect my winnings pop kept out a couple dollars and gave me some paper and said I needed to spend some money on advertisement. I reluctantly accepted his payment and made some flyers to post at local businesses. Within a week I had several clients and not enough traps to work all their yards, so as pop said with some of my money I reinvested in my business. I thought I would never have enough money to buy whatever I wanted at the time. As the summer came to an end I remember that I had enough money to make the purchase, but the money I earned that summer no where compare to the knowledge and values I gained from my grandfather. I learned to work hard and the business skills I developed are serving me well as I'm now finishing my second year running my own insurance agency. I cant' thank the man enough. Hope you all enjoyed one of many memories I have of many more life lessons from that man, but here recently this one has really stuck out.

[Countryboy N.C.]

My grandpa showed me that same lesson over and over, he learned me a lot about business, I sure miss him , now. died in 94. I have had my own busines for 20 years now and still putting money back into it and growing.

[catman]

great story z. i grew up in okla. also and when i was young the farmer we lived next to would give me a quarter for every gopher i trapped, i didn't make much money but kind of enjoyed the trapping. i'm quite a bit older than you so i wonder how much a trapped gopher is worth nowdays to the youngsters.

[zinsurance]

I'm glad you guys enjoyed the story, I always enjoyed the thrill of reopening the hole to find out if you had a prize or if your hole was filled back up with dirt. The latter of the two would make me try even harder to catch that critter. Catman, I don't have any clue what a gopher should be worth today, probably nothing since most kids won't hardly shut off the video games. I just hope the day comes when I can pass on the same wisdom I gained.