One exceptional day!!!

Today is the big day! Dad is retiring!!! After 40 years of working his tail off at a job he loves(most of the time…well part of the time), he has finally reached this day that we all have been waiting for.

Many years my father worked away from home, missing time with his family that he loves so much to provide a life that we all could enjoy and be proud of. Even though he was gone some of the time he always managed to be home on important days or occasions in our life. He taught me to be the man that I am today as well as teach me the meaning of a job well done. I would have to say that my father for sure is a one of a kind. Not many people these days can say they worked for one company for as long as he did and with as much pride as he put into his daily grind.

I was fortunate enough to be able to spend a day with him at work one day on a trip down to Nogales. I had always wondered what it was like and had an idea of his daily activities from his stories but on this one day I got to experience it all. I remember it very clearly since it is just one of those days that a person really can’t forget. How excited he was as well as I, that I was going to finally be able to ride along and see what it was like. This was just an ordinary day for him but not for me. Pictures in my head finally had concrete images of the engine and the tracks and even the smell of it all. He explained to me how everything worked and I even got to sit in his seat for just a short while and even blow the horn as we crossed the tracks through town on the way to our destination. Once in Nogales we had time to waste while we waited for the train from across the border to arrive so we walked into Mexico to peruse the goods that wonderful Nogales has to offer. It wasn’t a glamorous setting but it was still fun. We made our return trip back home with stories of my father’s daily adventures on the railroad. As he mentioned to me that there are times when cars and trucks try to beat the train to get across and come very close to being hit, right around the next corner, a Semi was in view going across the tracks unaware of our presence until dad hit the horn to warn them of their impending doom. Nothing happened this time but I could only imagine what it would have been like to hit it. He also described a certain section of the tracks known as “Hamburger Alley”. This was an area where cattle chose to cross the tracks and many a time they would lose the race to get out of the way. It was gross and a bit hard to stomach as we cruised on by one unfortunate bovine from the previous day’s journey. But once again this was just one day of the many that he would spend in his 40 years on the tracks.

He makes me proud to be the person that I have become. He makes me proud to be a Nowell. He makes me proud to be his son. I can only hope that I can be half the person that he is and always will be. Congrats DAD! We all love you so much it hurts and are so proud of you and the wonderful life you have provided for your family. Here’s to your last day on the railroad!! And like you said, “Tomorrow is the first day of vacation for the rest of my life!”