35 Years

On March 5, 1973, he started working for Shank Door Company. It's hard to believe that was 35 years ago. One thing we learned is that the garage door business goes up and down---literally, and in more ways than one. When the economy was down, business was down; and when the economy is booming, business is brisk.

We went through several swings during the 22 years Leroy was an installer. During some of the worst times he had only one or two days of work a week. Try feeding a family on those earnings! Since 1995 he has been in the warehouse, so his work is steady regardless of the economy. We are thankful for that now when the economy is in a downturn again.

I thought we should recognize Leroy's achievement somehow, so I took lunch in to the office yesterday and surprised him. Having a son in the office who was willing to be my "partner in crime" helped make it possible to pull off the surprise. After I had lunch on the counter, Gene paged Leroy to come to the office. He never expected to see me there! He had to think a little to figure out what the occasion was.

I don't know how many more years Leroy will be with the company, but we know it won't be as many as he has been there already. I have been so blessed to have a husband who is a good provider and stuck with it even when he did not feel like going to work. Give him a round of applause!