It seems that I have written something about everyone on this blog, except my youngest son, Mark. Mark is intelligent, opinionated, loving, a good father, a good husband, a wonderful son. Oh, did I mention he was smart, oh yeah, I did....I said he was intelligent.
Mark made a life changing decision late last year. He made the decision to apply for membership in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, #271. Of course he was accepted. He had been working as an electrician for about 3 years, maybe a bit more. He came home to Kansas after traveling for most of that 3 years, took the Master's test and with out a doubt in my mind, passed it. FIRST TIME! I was so excited for him. He continued to work outside the union and once again was on the road. He was home most evenings, but the work took him away some of the time. When he began pondering this change, he had a lot of things to consider. One of them was to go full blown into the union, or consider going to the apprenticeship school to fine tune his skills. I am happy to say that he chose the school and he will start in the month of August. It will be a long four years of school, but the rewards will be great for him and his family. One I can think of right off the top of my head is "working in a safe environment". When your working in that business, you need to know exactly what you are doing, and so do those around you. I rest easier knowing this. For those who don't know, his dad was an electrician as well. He went through the program, and finished top in his class and was outstanding apprentice for the city of Wichita, and the state of Kansas. That was a long time ago, but there is a plaque hanging in the school that represents those facts. There has never been a father/son apprentice of the year. But I have this feeling that in four years there will be a plaque also hanging at the school with Mark's name on it. Mark's dad was always at the top of his game when it came to his job, those are big shoes and I know of only one person who can fill them, and surpass the accomplishments he had in his chosen field.
Mark is his own man with goals and dreams. He has the drive it takes to fulfill every goal and dream. I am proud of what he is doing and will do. He has my full support of this decision, and I can hardly wait for that one special day four years from now. Good luck Mark, I know you will do yourself proud. You bring joy to my heart.
One thing I failed to mention was his lovely wife Michelle, his daughters Valleri and Emily. We are going to be one loud crazy family in four years. We will be celebrating Mark's graduation and Valleri's as well. What a year that will be for everyone. Praise the Lord for all of the blessings he has given to Mark and to us all.
