I Guess I Have Come a Long way

On December 3rd 1989 I received a piece of news that left my life in a tailspin for a year. I was getting laid off from a job that I had worked for at that time for the past 7 1/2 years. My day of final fate would be almost seven months later, but it was a day that changed my life. My world as I had come to know it was about to change.

Span ahead another seven years and I had been working the last six years working 65-70 hours a week at another steel mill in Fairmont. I had sold my life for for employment and I was going full steam ahead planning on retiring from this company with an executive position. Once again, my life was placed into a tailspin as only a hand full of us were left to do the jobs of 70 people making the foundry go and for a lot less money. It eventually ended also once again making my head spin.

Since the days of me working in steel mills, living paycheck to paycheck and hanging on by a decision that someone else would make about my fate and future a lot has changed.

I went to college, worked for a few great companies, the one I currently work for is by far the best.

Within a few short months of me first going to the DOE, I had an animation that I played a big part on developing playing in the White House and was witnessed by two administrations. That was a big jump forward for a guy who was twice laid off from two different steel mills.

Today, I guess you can say I move a little further in that Journey. It seems like just yesterday I was in meetings with my foreman being told about a plant shut down. Today is a whole different story, today I have the honor of sitting in a meeting with the US Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu (Probably the single most visible Secretary of Obama's administration), Senator Rockefeller (who I saw once as he walked through my department at Sterling) and Governor Manchin as definite people who will be in this meeting. Possible other attendees include one other US Senator, and possibly one current member of the House of Representatives.

As I look back at yesteryear and the days of bad news, and realize just how far I have come since December 3, 1989.