As long as I can remember, I was expected to work. I lived on a farm near Decorah, Iowa. We lived next door to our five uncles: Romie, Joe, Bob, Clemie and Willie. There was always work to do and never enough people to do it.

When I was twelve and school was out for the summer, my Uncle Clemie asked me to work for him. The room I stayed in was stark and scary! I remember many nights hearing the wind blow through the screens making strange sounds. I would pull the covers over my head and the next thing I remember, the sun was coming through the window.

I liked working on the farm with the cows and chickens. It was hard work, but I loved it and wouldn't have traded it for the world. 

I especially remember one summer working with my Uncle Bob. He was a self-taught veterinarian and traveled all over the countryside helping neighbors with their sick animals. I loved being his assistant because I got to see the neighbor girls and tell them all my wonderful stories. That always made me feel good.  I'm still a big story teller today, maybe that's why!  Uncle Bob taught me all I know about animals and for that I am forever grateful.

As the summers passed, I grew and left the farm. I spent much of my life in real estate sales and incorporated what I learned as a child into this career. I became very successful and owe a great deal of my success to the values learned from my uncles as the "hired hand".

Don Schmitz is a popular speaker and writer on parenting and grandparenting. He is the author of The New Face of Grandparenting…Why Parents Need Their Own Parents and founder of The Grandkidsandme Foundation and Grandparent Camps. Don holds graduate degrees in Education, Administration and Human Development. He is the father to three sons and nine  grandchildren. Contact Don@grandkidsandme.com