We were in for a surprise, baby Elizabeth slept all night. When I woke a little before six, she was wiggling her little arms around, kicking her feet and smacking her lips. I quickly changed her then laid her next to Sue and unbuttoned Sue's gown to give the baby access to breakfast after cleaning a swollen nipple.
Sue woke with a smile as Lizzy nursed. She seemed to nurse for a long time before rolling off the nipple and laying there smacking her lips and wiggling. I burped her then laid her back down to lay with Sue.
Mercy and I showered quickly, dressed, then got Stevie up to change his diaper and dress him. He wanted to cuddle with his mother too. When he toddled to the bed and looked at his new sister he reached up and it almost looked like he was patting her. He put his arms up to be put on the bed so I laid him down on the other side of Sue. She cuddled him to her and he groped for the other swollen breast. Sue said, "With all of the hungry breast feeders around here, I'll never need a pump again."
Mercy stayed with Sue while I went to start the day. Glenda and Nelda were both already on the patio with Tiny and Ruth. It didn't take long until the place was full, busily getting ready for a new day.
Dennis and Tina had to ride the bus this week as Dennis had received a speeding ticket and was grounded for a week. Kevin warned him that another speeding ticket would have him riding a bicycle until he graduated. Dennis still worked in the shop but now split his time mostly between the motor shop and Abe's shop. Abe said Dennis seemed to have an aptitude for generators and compressors.
Tina had already picked out the car she wanted. She had found a sixty-nine Mustang fastback that was a rat, but complete. It even had a factory air dashboard. The car occupied a home in the big storage building and was slowly being torn apart in preparation to be restored. We had most of a year before it needed to be done so there was no rush. Tina had already made arrangements to be on the work program at the shop.
Merlin and Missy were anxious to play and hold the two kids. The two doted on Stevie already so I could believe they would be nuts over Lizzy. When Mercy had her little boy, I would probably have to get another mobile home to put next to ours for the grandparents.
The morning held another surprise. Around noon, another limo showed up. This time Dewey, Sheila, and their little boy, Dempsy, got out. The couple looked great and it was a great to see them.
Sue loved up little Dempsy, while Dewey and Sheila played with Stevie and held Liz. This was as good as it gets. We had all of our friends joining us. Beth was back, as we expected she would be. She wanted to be the doting grandmother and a helping mother to her daughter.
I was able to get some work done at the shop and out at the park. We were planning on trying to set up a golf cart showroom and covered lot like a car dealership. Phil had three traveling salesmen that concentrated on golf carts only. They visited remote golf cart communities and golf courses. They sold various carts to airports, large facilities such as auto dealerships, cemeteries, parks, and just about anyplace where there was too big a distance to walk, but too small an area for a full size vehicle.
An innovation from Crystal was the traveling maintenance truck for our golf cart group. The big semi traveled to golf cart communities and set up to perform preventative maintenance and do repairs on all carts, not just our own. This of course led to increased sales of our own product. Phil had buses that brought people from various golf cart communities in the state to spend the day with us once a month. A lot of the older couples used the trip as an adventure and holiday, as we provided lunch for them at the cafeteria. This also encouraged many new golf cart community residents to buy our product.
Phil was pretty slick as he had the bus park at the RV dealership to let the people out. Those interested in golf carts walked across the street to the cart covered lot and showroom area. Many of the retirees from the community that came for a cart were often enticed to spend some time looking at and bargaining for an RV.
The first week of Liz and Sean's life was busy. Sue and Shawna could only try to keep up with all of the visitors and tend to their new little ones. Stevie and CJ didn't want for attention as there was so many "Aunts" and "Grandmothers" around. The boys mostly wanted to play with each other and the other two older children. The four were close enough that they were able to get along fairly well. Often you would find them in a pile sleeping together. The four sets of parents were very happy they were forming this early bond.
During our Friday night, end of the week, get together, Ben came to me with some news. He said he had invested a large amount of Sue's money, and the money I had received from selling forty percent of the company, into a venture capital company. He said he had just sold the company to GE credit for more than three times our original investment. He said that this was the biggest deal he had ever made. He said this was even better than having taken the venture capital company public, as we now didn't have to worry about management or anything.
Ben was the manager of the company 401K plan and was also responsible for investing any spare cash the company had. He said that since I had come into the family, he had grown to the point his offices now took up the entire floor of the downtown building. I was glad he had become even more successful than he had been. I know he glowed from being recognized as a good businessman and attorney.
Sue had a big day planned at the park for all of her employees. It was to celebrate the opening of the final building and to make some important announcements. The Saturday shifts had been canceled so everyone could attend. Buses were going to bring the inner city people to the park.
Saturday brought some big excitement. Sue's people had several tents set up out at the park. Instead of using the cafeteria, she used our caterer for food and beverages. She didn't have any beer or liquor, as she felt that with over a thousand people, she shouldn't complicate things.
In one of the tents were mannequins displaying all the products currently being manufactured. There were large cards in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Creole, with various histories of the company. Thankfully, the day was beautiful, without a hint of rain.
Around two, Sue climbed up on a large stage area, where musicians had played since the party started, and stood before her people. She picked up a portable microphone and looked out at the throngs of people.
"Welcome, for those who do not understand English, move to an area that has your language being translated. If you have someone who is deaf near you, please direct them to the right side of the stage where a lady will sign to them."
There was some shifting around of people, then they settled down to listen.
"We have many lines of clothing now. We still manufacture big girls' clothes. We've done a great job producing some great lounge and night wear. Since a few of us have become pregnant, we now are a major provider of quality fashion maternity wear. As the new plant came on line, we began making some very nice sportswear for adults. This of course led to us creating and making some fashion sportswear for younger buyers. We even have two sewing rooms making infant and toddler clothes. I want to congratulate, and thank you at the same time, for helping this company become known for making the best quality clothing within our industry."
"I know we're not very fast, but the original workers when we bought the first plant will remember that Steve, my husband, worked with every sewing room to let them know that making a good product took time and wasn't hurried. He wanted it to be like his shop, perfect. You have his signs all over the buildings. We still want quality over speed. We love the idea that we don't have seconds. All of you quality control people are responsible to look at every garment and to only pass it through if it is perfect."
"All of your efforts have made the new factory possible. There are so many of you that I can never learn all of your names, but please, know that all of the management staff and I are available to you when you need us. We are one hell of a big family now."
"Recently we were able to complete your health insurance plan. So far, everyone seems to be happy with it, and the human resources person in charge of it says your bills are being taken care of."
"Your other benefits include paid vacation, quality productivity awards, new ideas for manufacturing awards, and fashion design awards. These will all continue. I think one of our big benefits is the free bus service we provide. I know for some, you have to make transfers, but you can remain living where you have been and still work here with free transportation. You know you could always move down the road here into one of our high density housing areas. The company has a plan for any of you that wish to become homeowners. Ask about it."
"All of you, listen to me. You have educational benefits that can help you progress in this company. We offer tuition assistance for going back to school, whether it is for your GED, for the community college, or for one of the universities in the city. Most important though is our English language class. This is free and taught by professionals, right at our plants. Regardless of your native language, you need to learn English to become successful U.S. citizens and more successful employees. Please, learn English so we may talk. Ask my original employees and they will tell you that I told them the same thing and now they are lead people and supervisors all over the company. Learn English, I beg you."
"Now for the biggy. I waited for a long to time to be able to make this announcement. Our entire product line will now be known as 'Quality Wear Clothes.' We will still have brands like Big Girl Clothes and the other various brands, but right over or under those labels will be 'Quality Wear Clothes.'"
"This is important because now we are all under one name, one company, and one system. This is important to you as today, 'Quality Wear Clothes' employees are being offered a 401K plan that includes a start for each employee of one hundred dollars. After today, every dollar you invest in your 401K plan, the company will match with fifty cents. Have just ten dollars a week put into your plan and you'll see it become fifteen dollars instantly. There are some rules for the free money, such as you can't dump all of your check into the plan and leave the next week with an additional fifty percent."
The crowd laughed.
"The rules will only let you put up to five percent of your income into your plan. If you do that then we will increase that by fifty percent. Your 401K plan is for your personal retirement or some future big dollar investment you may have. Take advantage of this benefit so I know you all will be taken care of when it is time for you to retire."
"Thank you all for coming. Now I need to go feed my new baby, Elizabeth. I will bring her through the plants during the next few weeks so everyone will have a chance to meet her. Have a great afternoon, eat lots, and meet all of your fellow employees."
The applause for Sue was phenomenal. She had so many employees now that it was really unbelievable. It was amazing that our goal of quality had made all of our enterprises successful and profitable. Sue actually had to turn down orders from Wal-Mart. She sold them some basics but she couldn't make the other product in the quantities demanded by the super chain. Sue said she would have to have two or three more big plants like the one in the park with another two to three thousand employees. She didn't think there were that many people available that she could train.
Two months later, Missy and Merlin showed up for a visit again. It was getting really close to Mercy's due date, so it was reasonable that they wanted to be here for the event.
It was one Thursday evening, as Sue and I were getting ready for bed, that Mercy grabbed her swollen tummy and grunted. She had a startled look on her face and said, "Mike is coming. I think he's coming right now."
Sue had her lay down for a second and checked to see what she looked like. "My goodness, Mercy, haven't you been feeling contractions. Your baby is almost here. Steve, call the doc, the hospital and an ambulance, hurry. Get Missy and have her come in."
I went through the house flipping on lights and knocked on Merlin and Missy's door saying, "Missy, it's time, Mercy could probably use your help." Thinking I might need some help, I turned on the patio lights to attract some attention then went back into the bedroom. I still had on shorts and a T-shirt and was pulling out a pair of jeans to put on when Sue said, "Come here, Steve, you know more about what to do than I do."
Oh shit! The baby's head was out of Mercy and the shoulders were coming. "Sue, get me come alcohol, some sharp scissors, a clothes pin, and some of your heaviest thread."
Missy and Merlin came in at that moment. The baby was coming out quickly.
I motioned to Missy, "Open the second drawer from the top on the left. Give me a hand full of those clean white T-shirts. Sue had put a towel under Mercy's bottom, but I wanted something to wrap the baby in as it came into the world."
The baby came whooshing out, and I could only do what I remembered had been done the two previous times I had watched. I clamped the umbilical cord with a big flat clothes pin then clipped the cord and stuffed a clean T-shirt into the opening of Mercy.
I laid the baby on a T-shirt and gently cleared her nose and mouth. I was beginning to panic when he coughed and sputtered. I held him face down as more gunk came out of his mouth. I turned him back over, and I swear, he was smiling. When I smiled, Mercy said, "Thank God, he's okay. He was having trouble and you helped him."
Missy helped me to gently clean him with some wipes from Lizzy's stuff. Sue was holding Mercy's hand as I placed the baby on Mercy's chest.
Glenda said, "Missy, you better check Merlin, it looks like he fainted. I'll wait by the door for the paramedics."
Sure enough, a sheriff's car, a fire truck, and a paramedic truck all showed up at once. Glenda escorted the paramedics to the bedroom then helped Missy get Merlin up and out of the way. The two professionals went to work checking Mercy and delivered the placenta. One tied the umbilical cord on the baby and put a regular clamp on it. They did a quick check of Mercy and the baby and said, "We'll transport her to the hospital, which one do you want."
Sue said, "Women's, down by St. Joseph's, please. I will be going with her."
Mercy grabbed my hand and pulled me down to her. She kissed me and asked, "Did I do okay, Dad?"
"You did wonderful, Mercy. You waited a little long though."
Mercy smiled, "He sneaked up on me. I was feeling funny all day but I didn't think it was labor."
Missy said, "She was the same way. If we didn't live damn near across the street from the hospital, I would have had her in a cab. Merlin did the same thing when Mercy was born too, he passed out."
The paramedics put Mercy on a backboard and hauled her to the truck with Sue following, carrying Mercy's hospital kit and her purse.
The porch was packed with our crew. Word traveled fast, so they all got a chance to see the baby and Mercy as they passed. There was a hearty applause for Mercy as she was put into the paramedic ambulance, and in a wink of an eye, they were all gone.
I told Merlin and Missy to get dressed and we would get down to the hospital immediately. I dressed, they dressed, and Glenda said she would stay with Liz and Steve. Mickey and Sandy said they would stay too, in case Glenda needed help.
I hope Liz didn't get hungry while Sue was gone. She usually slept all night, but you never knew.
At the hospital, it took a while for us to get to see Mercy. The gynecologist and the pediatrician both had to do their inspections before anyone were allowed to come in. We were finally allowed to come in, finding Mercy smiling while the baby was nursing. When his little head fell to the side, I picked him up and put him on my shoulder before the doc could even make the suggestion. I rubbed his back and he finally gave a little burp.
The gynecologist said, "You did a good job. You must have been paying attention when you watched your first two."
"I heard you used a flat clothes pin to clamp the cord before you cut it. Were you going to tie it too?" The pediatrician asked.
"I just did everything you guys had done before," I said. "I thought these babies were supposed to take hours of labor, not minutes like Sue and Mercy. What's with these two anyway?"
The gynecologist said, "Some women have problems, some do not. If women exercise regularly and are in good health, I think that speeds up the delivery and lessens the pain. That's not scientific; it's just something that I've noticed."
Mercy said, "Thank goodness you two are exercise freaks. You helped me stay reasonably slim and helped the delivery as well."
Both doctors said they would check them in the morning and they could probably both go home. As soon as they left, Missy was hovering over her daughter, petting and kissing her. Sue was standing next to me and said, "I'm jealous, you didn't get to deliver either Steve or Liz."
Mercy laughed and said, "That just makes up for the teeth thing then, doesn't it."
Merlin looked puzzled while Sue stuck her tongue out at a Mercy. Missy blushed.
Sue asked, "Did you hear what his name is?"
"Mike," I said, then looked at Mercy. "Is that for Michael?"
Mercy glowed, "Michael Steven Sharp. That's after Merlin Michael the great magician."
Merlin was all puffed up. "Thank you for not naming him Michael Merlin. One crazed magician in the family is enough."
Around eleven, the nurse said we needed to let Mercy get some rest. We could come back around seven in the morning.
The patio was still full when we got home. Sue checked on her babies and brought Glenda out with her. We celebrated with a glass of beer, our trailer park champagne, and then we all went to bed.
When Sue and I were in bed she said, "I wanted to just pick him up and begin feeding him. I know he's Mercy's, but I feel like he's mine too."
"He is, Sue, just like Stevie is so attached to Mercy and Liz is attached to her too. This has gone farther than I would have expected, but I do consider both of you my wives. I hope you feel that's okay."
Hugging me, Sue said, "I love our Mercy so much. She's not like enjoying Mickey, Samantha, Sandy, Mandy, or Crystal. She's like a part of you and me, it's more than loving sex, it's love. Little Mikey is mine as much as he's yours. It's our family."
We made gentle love, enjoying our love for each other. I'm sure a part of her was thinking of Mercy the whole time, the same as me.
We were able to bring Mercy and Mike home around eleven the next day. Mercy sat in one of the big rockers, holding her baby, while most of the crew who worked in the business park and many of the shop people showed up to see the two. By one PM, Mercy was tired and lay down for a while. She said she didn't understand why she should be so tired, but she was.
The ladies were having a field day, because they were able to play with the four older kids, plus have Sean and Liz. Little Mike was a point of fascination and everyone wanted to watch him and hold him. For the rest of the day, Mike would wake up to nurse about every two hours. Mercy would rest and eat when she was not napping. She didn't have to worry about lifting a finger with Missy and Sue hovering over her. Beth was even with us, acting like another just like Missy, a doting grandmother. Glenda and Nelda were just as bad.
The Friday week ending party was supposed to be toned down because Mercy probably didn't need the extra noise or excitement. But by four, you could tell the word didn't trickle down that perhaps people might want to wait until next week to celebrate. We didn't have the tent or the caterer, so someone was designated to become the bartender and several were sent out for food.
By six, there were mounds of food on the three tables and snacks everywhere. The four older babies were now all walking and receiving attention from everyone as they toddled between smiling people. The mothers had to be extra attentive to be sure the wrong kinds of snacks were not given to these little ones.
CJ and Stevie had begging down to a science. While one would try to motion and make noise to get something, the other would be stretching up trying to reach a nearby plate of whatever was on it. Shawna and Sue were busy trying to display their little girls, so it was up to Charlie and me to continually redirect the two boys' efforts to con folks out of snacks they didn't need.
Merlin was at the height of his glory, bragging to all about his daughter's little boy that carried his name. To entertain everyone there, he was doing simple magic tricks all night. Nothing was very sophisticated or mental, just tricks that entertained and made people smile. Misty even played the helper for him a couple of times as he performed.
Thankfully, the night ended early so the worn out moms could relax after putting the toddlers down in the living room and the three new ones in the baby bedroom to be watched over the close circuit monitors.
Mercy said, "I didn't know having a baby would make me so popular. Everyone wanted to talk to me tonight, whether the baby was up or not."
Sue told her, "You've always been the quietest of all of us girls, but as you can see now, you didn't escape from their view. You are recognized as a part of us. If you think about it, people don't say Sue and Steve or Steve and Sue anymore. Your name is always in the mix now. It's Sue, Mercy, and Steve or Steve, Sue, and Mercy and even more lately since you're home taking care of the kids its Mercy, Sue, and Steve."
This made Mercy smile with pride that she was genuinely accepted as a part of Sue and me, as well as a part of the crew.
The week ended with a warm glow within all of our hearts.
It was back to the middle of the night feedings. Lizzy had begun regularly sleeping all night and now we had Mike waking up wanting to be fed. I somehow was able to sleep light enough that I would hear Mike stir and begin to whimper. I would get up and change him, then gently wake Mercy, clean her nipples, and lay Mike at her breast.
Lizzy wasn't a deep sleeper and often woke up when Mike did, so Sue had to wake to nurse as well. It was sweet watching the two mothers lay on their sides as the two little ones nursed. As the babies would fall back to sleep, it was my turn to pick them up, get a burp from them, and put them back to bed. Lizzy usually fell asleep quickly, as she only woke up because of Mike.
That Sunday afternoon, the patio was peaceful, with only a few people around. Dewey, Sheila, and Dempsy were out looking around the area while Merlin and Missy were visiting with Ben and Beth. Shawna and Charlie had gone for a short ride with Jim and Hanna, and Debbie and Hank, leaving Sue and me in charge of the toddlers, including little Sean.
Lizzy had decided she was hungry so Sue was in the big rocker nursing Lizzy when Sean decided she needed attention. I changed her, but she wanted something else. She was smacking her lips and acting like she wanted to suck. I asked Sue if we had any of Shawna's breast milk but Sue just said, "Give her to me. I'll take care of her."
Sue had me place Sean at her other breast and the little girl went right to town on a much larger nipple than she was used to. The picture was too good to miss, so I found the camera and took a dozen pictures of Sue nursing both babies at once.
When I asked Sue if she thought Shawna would be upset with her for nursing Sean, she laughed. "I've nursed CJ, Robbie, or Mia at the same time as Stevie, and Shawna's nursed Stevie along with CJ. She's already nursed Lizzy when I've not been able to get home real quick. None of them seem the worse for wear over it. Look how healthy all of our kids are."
She looked at me and said, "All four of us have nursed each other's babies. It's too bad Hanna and Debbie didn't keep up and have another baby with Shawna and me. It makes taking care of them easier. Ask Mercy, she has already had Liz and Mike nursing together."
Guys just don't know what goes on, do we? I had assumed the spigots were labeled. Sue's had Steve and Liz written over them and Shawna's had a CJ and Sean sign. Instead there was a sign over all four of the girls, 'Come one, come all, eat here."
When the riders returned I showed them all the pictures. The women thought they were cute, while the guys were making the same discovery that I had made. The spigots were not dedicated.
It was now early 2001, just past my second anniversary as a resident of Florida and our 'trailer park' community. Our home life was wonderful. Liz and Mike were now much better roommates to Stevie. They had adapted to his sleeping all night and not really disturbing us till we were up. There were times when they wanted breakfast before showers could be completed, but for the most part they did wait.
Many times Sue would be nursing both babies while Mercy and I took a shower, or Mercy would have them both at her breast while Sue and I were showering. Both of them responded to either mother eagerly. Stevie was learning to talk and could get 'mama" out pretty well. The unique part was he would say mama to Sue one way and mama to Mercy with a completely different tone. You could actually tell which one he was asking for. He was saying dada but ended up calling Charlie, Jim, and Hank dada along with me. All of the kids would just pick a lap and crawl up. It was extremely nice to have the kids so close.
Glenda and Nelda were honored being called Gamma by the little ones. All of the older ones began using that term at the same time, so no one knew where it started. Beth enjoyed being Gamma too, while Ben had become a pap along with Martin and Ernie. It is definitely fun to watch how little ones grow in knowledge and abilities.
Now that all of the construction in the park was completed to our original plan there was an almost restless feeling among Tiny, Phil, and Abe. They were unused to having our size stagnate for any length of time. The funny part about it was that the company was growing, but not locally. We were constantly picking up dealerships, and working to improve the distributorships we had. The only local growth was in the continuous addition of manpower within most all departments.
What we needed was a new product or product line. We needed to feed the hunger for expansion that we had become used to. But what could it be? Everything so far had always been a chance opportunity that had just worked out. Something like the golf cart business became a reality because it just became available and we marketed the products and increased the manufacturing. I need something for me to stumble onto so we could feed the company's hunger.
One Sunday evening Tiny, Phil, Abe, and I were having a beer, discussing what was going on, when Abe mentioned that the last trip he and Martin took in the RV was nice but there were some things that could be improved on. Just about the time I thought that there was a chance for us to go into a new business, Abe said he had the manufacturer's engineer come down and he went over all the changes he thought should be made. He said that Coachman were implementing all of the changes immediately and would be trading us for a new coach this coming month.
Rats, nothing we can do about that.
Tiny talked about new motors that were going into the golf carts and that they were now making the carts in a variety of body styles. Some were utility vehicles, some were for domestic transportation like the grocery store and visiting, some were for golf courses (amazing that they were still used for their original purpose), some were enclosed for use by the city for meter maids, and a variety of other uses. We had gasoline engines, we had gas engines converted to natural gas, and we had two types of battery operated vehicles, one slow charge, and one fast charge. The fast charge models had more expensive batteries. What would be nice would be longer life batteries, but that was everyone's dream, greater storage and longer life.
Tiny suggested we should build a research and development lab in the business park to work on various projects like bigger and better batteries in smaller packages. Phil threw in the idea that we needed to be working on alternate fuel motors. Abe suggested we could use that technology for forklifts and generators too. He said that we should definitely figure out a way to make higher output generators in smaller packages.
"Tiny?" I questioned, "Why don't you work on a building that we could do some of research projects in. Since you and my brother are the most educated of all of us, go out to USF and see if they have some engineering people who would like to work on some of these projects with us. I understand they have a lot of patents and are probably used to working on research projects."
Tiny had been jotting down some notes while we were talking and said, "I need to research to see if there are other companies working on these same things. If they are, we could join with them in manpower, technology, or financing. Perhaps we can find someone with a garage lab that needs a bigger venue to work in."
Abe contributed, "I've got a ton of ideas on how to make high output generators more compact. The problem is, do you want to go into competition with Onan? They are your big bread and butter cash cow."
"Abe," I answered, "tell you what. If we figure out a better way to make a generator or a more efficient cost-effective way to make one, we'll patent it and offer it to Onan first. If they don't want to make it, we can without ever feeling guilty. The only competition would be in a couple of areas."
"Good idea, Steve, I'd like to work on it. Dennis is going to be going to USF soon and he might be the good in engineering. I've said all along that he seems to have an affinity for generators."
Phil asked, "What about this alternative fuel thing. Do you want to make an engine that runs on water, H2O? Let's see, that would be a hydrogen engine maybe? Perhaps an engine that runs off vegetation. Could I get five miles a tomato, six miles a potato, or something like that?"
Abe was shaking his head. "Phil, you are such a goon. They already have the fermented corn gas additive, but tomatoes? Come on. The hydrogen cell is being worked on, but no real progress yet. If we could make that concept work and convert hydrogen into inertia we would have something."
"Why not veggies?" Phil asked. "If they're good enough for some of them to give us gas, they must have some energy benefit.
Henry had stopped and had been listening to the conversation. "If you wanted to find a product with some potential, I've always thought the common bean, like the black bean or black eyed pea or navy bean would have the potential for making some kind of gas. It sure does in our digestive system."
Juanita had wandered over and was sitting beside me said, "If you want to do something for mankind, work on how to grow food like beans and rice or other protein grains easier and or faster. In Cuba the people always need more food. When hurricanes come, the people only have the minimum to eat. The fruit grows fast, but the other foods take a long time. Rice takes the longest. Figure out how to help people grow more food faster and you will help all people."
"There you go, Tiny, you now have several things to work on in your new R&D center. Build it and begin working on some of the ideas and we'll sell them or begin making them ourselves. Work on Juanita's idea about food stuffs and we will send people to those countries that need to grow more food."
We celebrated that we had come up with something new to do. It wasn't everything I wanted, but it was a start. We still needed something we could do or build that would make all of us enthusiastic.
Once most everyone had gone home for the night, I was sitting on the patio sipping a drink while Sue and Mercy were having a Coke, talking about the kids.
While looking at me, Mercy commented, "You need to do some more flying. Sue probably does too, but you need to visit all of the various locations where you have businesses with Ryan, Tiny, Phil, or even Abe. Take some time and begin going to all of them. I bet once you see what they all do, you will come up with something new for the company. I heard your conversation tonight and can tell that all of you are anxious to do or make something new."
Sue said, "If my company doesn't grow another person, I will be ecstatic. I really don't want to grow any bigger. Just keeping enough people to run all the lines is a full time job for a dozen people, plus the schools. If you want to grow, fertilize it, but not my stuff. I'll help you, but don't let it rub off on my people."
When we went to bed, I would have had a difficult time going to sleep if it were not for my two lovely women. They both enjoy attention at night. I'm always surprised the kids sleep through the noise we make. It does put me to sleep though.