Thanks, Donnie

I will use this post to thank Donnie and the effects that he has had on my life. To be 100% honest I have not always agreed with much of what this man has said or did. Donnie, is my Mom's fiance. I have no idea why they have yet to be married they have only been engaged for years. I have to thank Donnie for a few things though. He has definitely had a big impact on my life. First of all he helped Mom financially and emotionally when we were growing up. Sure, he made plenty of mistakes at first but he straightened up. Mama did not believe in herself much as we were growing up but Donnie was like her rock she was able to lean against him. That support must have given her the confidence to move forward in life.

A couple of other things I can thank Donnie for; he forced me to work harder than I have ever had to work in my life. I pray that if God allows I will never have to work that hard physically again. The phrase "work smarter not harder" is one I can truly live by. Donnie, also reminded me that I did not want to be dictated by a boss for the rest of my life. Donnie, is a perfectionist, and probably one of the best tobacco farmers I have ever met. He keeps his stuff in order and he works hard at it. When I was young I would hear people comment on how much money he probably made and how tight he was with his money. I have no idea how much money he makes but one thing is for sure, no one has given it to him and he has definitely worked hard for anything he has. However, working for a perfectionist is a whole other story. It's like working for a dictator. The problem was we couldn't just clock out heck, we couldn't even get fired. You had to eat, sleep, and breath in this man's house and he would remind you of that if he felt the need to. The worse part was that Donnie and Mama could make the decision to keep us from going out on the weekend which was our only sanctuary of freedom. We would do just about anything to make sure we could go out for those 6 hours Saturday evening and 5 hours on Sunday afternoon. Working around his strict authoritarian attitude I was certain I never wanted a boss like him and if at all possible I didn't want to have a boss. In other words, I wanted to own the business.

Through his doubts of who I am and what I was capable of; made me affirm to myself who I really was and what I would eventually accomplish. He has not always agreed with my decisions in fact he never wanted me to be a nurse. He blatantly insulted me for applying to nursing school. He called me a 'pussy' for trying to become a male nurse. Those were his issues not mine. Please understand I do not dislike this man. In fact, I respect him quite a bit. Regardless of whether I agree with him or not is a mute point. I understand that he was brought up in a different time period than I was. I truly think he did the best he could. I do not think he was ever out to make my life hell. I think he just expected out of me, what was expected out of him growing up.

Thanks Donnie for the many affirmations that you gave me in life. You helped me to affirm that I did not want to work but so hard physically, I did not want to have a boss my entire life, and I became certain of who I am and what I am capable of.


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