A Man at Work by Willis Bretz

Public Story

A Man at Work

Copyright Willis Bretz 2024

Date of Work Dec 2022 - Dec 2022

Updated Aug 2023

Location West Middlesex, PA, USA

Topics Documentary, Photography, Portrait, Portraiture

Summary

My dad started a trucking company with his dad, brother, and a business partner in 1978.

My dad started a trucking company with his dad, brother, and a business partner in 1978. As a kid, I would occasionally ride with him as he would haul loads of asphalt and always thought it was the most exciting thing in the world. The early mornings meant I’d usually sleep in the truck’s bunk and eventually find my way to the passenger seat after waking. I fondly remember him teaching me a truck driver’s trick of heating up our lunch by putting it on the dash and blasting the defroster. At that moment, I remember thinking, "Wow! My dad is the smartest guy ever!"

In 1997, my dad hung up his trucking keys but has continued working for the same company he helped start ever since. In high school, I still visited the shop he works in today as we restored my 1966 Ford Mustang there together. I would go to the shop every day after school, and we would get right to work on the car. On Friday nights when my friends were out together, I would be in the shop working on the Mustang and eating Dairy Queen for dinner with my dad. Not realizing it at the time, we were creating great memories that we still talk about today.

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Willis Bretz

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