Never ‘WORK’ a Day

I was about ten years old when my stepfather Richie took me in his truck to the local city dump. I was in heaven, not because of the dump, but because of the truck, a 1955 Chevy 5-ton dumper, red and dirty. That day, my life was decided for me, no office job, no working in a plant. I was going to be a truck driver! When I got home, my mother laughed when I told her.

Six years and many truck rides with Ritchie later, I quit school. Within two days, I had my first real job as a helper on a Montreal Star truck, delivering newspapers, which lasted for five wonderful years. It was time ‘move up’ to my first driving job. Not so easy, as one job turned to eleven jobs that year; I could not find a company that cared for their employees, just for their bottom line. In 1972, I started, along with Ritchie, working for my cousin and was there fourteen years. Again, time to ‘move up’ and I opened my own trucking company, which grew too big too fast and caused some major personal issues well into the early 2000s.

I then found ERB Transport. Having fun almost every day there, a job that lasted right up to my retirement… But not all days were perfect! Yet it was what my ten-year-old self had chosen to do.

After retirement, I went to work part time for the Walmart Fleet in Cornwall, the 2nd best company I had ever worked for. I have enjoyed almost fifty-four years of work. My mother’s words that day, when I announced my life plan at ten, were “Do something you love, and you will never work a day.” Truer words were never spoken, as they say, and so I pass these on to you.

Those years flew by because I loved what I was doing. This holds true as a volunteer in many organizations in Cornwall over these past seven years. I so love what I am doing. Find your passion, ride the wave, love what you do, and you will never work a day in your life.

Email your thoughts to: in**@th*******.ca attention Stephen Douris.