There are times that you have to step back and marvel at how things work out. As our sons were growing up they seemed to hate each other. They were very competitive with each other and did not like spending time in each other’s company. Our daughter was often stuck in the middle because she had a good relationship with both of her brothers. Our children had the choice of two different high schools to attend because our home sat on the school district lines. One son went to one school and the other went to the other school. We thought this was a good thing so that they did not carry their rivalry into the classroom.
Both of them are good students and are quite creative and hard working. They both also love the outdoors. One weekend my husband told them that the three of them were going to go camping together. They were resistant to having to spend time with each other، but they did not want to disappoint their dad. The trip was a turning point in their relationship. We are not sure what happened، but now they are friends. That summer they started a landscape business. They approached neighbors about doing their yard work for them. They made enough money halfway through the summer to purchase their own lawn mower. They took turns mowing، trimming، planting، whatever the people wanted done. Soon they had a good reputation for being hard workers and reasonably priced. They started making plans to expand their landscape business the next year.
That fall they provided the service of raking leaves، putting up storm windows and cleaning gutters. Soon their landscape business had more work than they could handle. Neighbors began calling in the winter to see if the boys would shovel snow. They had not considered this as a way to make money، but they added this service to the growing list of items as part of the landscape business.
It has been three years since the boys first started mowing neighbors’ lawns. The youngest is now done with high school. The landscape business grows each year. Our oldest son has found that it is better paying than any other part time job he could find.
The two boys are now best of friends. Their landscape business has been incorporated and they have several employees. They have a building to store their equipment and have hired a secretary to take work orders. Their landscape business will put them both through college and furnishes them both with a comfortable living. My husband and I are very thankful that the three of them went of that camping trip together.
