52 Ancestors – WEEK 11 – Achievement
By Cynthia Keefer Patton
I sat and pondered as I
looked at my family tree on Ancestry. I kept asking “who achieved something?”
Who achieved something?
I have. I have completed a successful career in the Army followed by a second
career as a Defense Contractor. I have farmed, renovated, and managed
properties, and now spend time as a professional genealogist.
I don’t want to write
about myself.
Who achieved something?
My little brother Kevin Keefer. We lost him in 2013 and oh how I miss him. He
achieved a lot in his life. He started out as a young teenager working for an
ambulance company as an EMT. It was part of earning his Eagle Scout, which he
did. A great achievement.
He left high school and
went to work full-time. He saw that as something he regretted, but none of his
siblings thought any less of him. He was self-sufficient and hard working. He
became a firefighter, and then a respiratory therapist. He worked his way up in
a volunteer fire department to become the Chief. He had three beautiful
daughters and when his marriage failed, he did his best to survive.
He was troubled by the
demons of the horrible and sad things he witnessed in all his occupations. He
drank more than he should and smoked even though he better than anyone knew it
was dangerous. He got esophageal cancer, and it took him at the age of 52.
He had achieved living
a solid life, working the jobs that not everyone will take on, sowing and
weeding his garden, hunting, cooking his favorite country dishes, listening to
his beloved music from the 70’s, and hanging out with good friends.
He was a good man, a
great brother, a father who cherished his children, and a hard worker. A great
achievement.