My Dad Works Hard
My Dad is the hardest working person I know.
7 days a week, 7 AM to 7 PM.
He used to fall asleep every night watching the 10:00 news because it had the weather forecast. It let him know how he’d spend the next day working. As a mason early in his career, his workdays were impacted by rain, which limited the types of work that could be performed. Rain could also impact other work as he grew his business to general contracting.
My swim coach joked one day you always knew what days it would rain at a weekend swim meet because those were the days you’d see Steve Cornelius. I didn’t realize it at the time, but that was totally consistent with the fact that Dad was always working, every day.
My Dad is a Man of His Word
He adopted me and my younger brother when he was a fresh-faced 24-year-old foreman working for his uncle’s construction company and driving a brand new 1974 Ford F-250 pickup truck.
My mom, who was working as a checker at a Thrifty in Palm Springs at the time, must have known he was a good bet for a 23-year-old single mother with two little boys.
Dad always says you’re only as good as your name, so do the right thing and be a man of your word.
He made the commitment and lived up to it, raising the two of us and a third son, my little brother, who was born when I was 5 years old.
To this day, when we talk, my Dad’s just going out to work, out working, or just in from work.
Here’s to you, Dad, and all the hard-working men of their word, who take on big challenges and follow through with them, day in, day out, because you said so.
Happy Father’s Day 2021!!!
My younger brother and I with awards from swimming, and “The Beast” work truck in the background.
