In a column he wrote for The News-Gazette (Champaign, Ill.), Ray Elliott reflects on moments spent with his father.
A father’s life on the road leaves a lasting impression on his son. An Illinois author, Elliott shares his story in The News-Gazette.
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A man of simple means, Ray Elliott’s father was a dedicated, hardworking trucker and farmer who taught him lessons on the road that have made his son into the man he is today.
Elliott, who also is a retired high school teacher, penned his story of his father, which was published in (Champaign, Ill.) The News-Gazette.
For the first half of his career, Elliott’s father was a CDL livestock driver. Each day he would rise in the wee hours of the morning to make his rounds around the local farms. A cow here, a lamb there, he’d toss each animal into the back of his truck and drive on.
He never saw his father much. When he did, Eliott writes, “… he didn’t talk much. And when he did, it was about being honest or always paying his bills.” He often would be gone days at a time on various jobs. It was his father’s work ethic, though, Elliott writes, that impressed upon him the idea that a full life is one of hard work and dedication to one’s craft — hauling livestock or teaching school
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