My family heritage
I was at a family reunion over the weekend, which is why I haven’t blogged much in the past couple days. Anyways, I learned more about my great-grandfather, John. He died at the age of 46, well before I was born. He grew up Amish and left the Amish church because he didn’t agree with it in several areas. So he and his wife were shunned and had to go through life eating meals at Amish relatives’ weddings in the basement, among other such wonderful things.
Great-Gpa John also was a consummate businessman — by the time he died, he was running 3 farms in the Bird-in-Hand area (his goal was to have 4, one for each of his sons), ran market stands at several markets, bought cheese to cure and resell, bought and sold fish on rainy days, and would buy his steers at auction on nice, sunny days when most farmers were out farming (he said you made your money on a steer when you bought it).
My grandpa, Paul, became the man of the house at a ripe age of 17 when John died, and my great-grandmother took on raising 7 kids along with running the finances and everything else involved with 3 farms and multiple market stands, a role that most women did not play in her age.
It’s neat for me to realize my entrepreneurial drive is inherited…it makes me feel less crazy :-)
