Other than part-time work at the local sale barn, my father’s entire work life was centered around farming. I can’t create a list of employers for my Dad other than Grandpa Neill and Dad himself. But I can think about the various farm tasks he completed on a daily or regular basis.

I do remember that he didn’t do most mechanical repairs other than the occasional “botching” something to get it to run until he had time to have it actually fixed. I don’t remember him ever welding anything although some farmers do that. There’s a variety of other farm-related tasks that I won’t bother to list here–but they are things to put in my file about my Dad.

And stories about pieces of equipment that always seemed to break down no matter how many times they were fixed (in my case an International Harvester square baler comes to mind) are also good to include.

If you were or are self-employed, think about writing down what types of tasks you did on a daily or regular basis. And if you’re interviewing that family member who was self-employed, ask them the same question.

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