Family · Reflections
Introduction
In Don’s own words, why he began writing these stories and the pleasure he finds in sharing them.
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Family · Reflections
The Last Meal
A simple lunch and a shared prayer hold the love of a lifetime during Don’s final visit with his mother.
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Family · Reflections
Letting Go
A blue vase, an old rocker, a scythe, and a treasured plate reveal why letting go can be so difficult.
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Family · Reflections
The Meaning of Life
Don reflects on faith, free will, and the meaning of a life spent loving others.
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Family · Reflections
Moving to Town
On the morning they leave the farm, Mom and Dad share memories, worries, and the comfort of a life together.
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Family · Reflections
Reading Aloud
From bedtime stories by lamplight to reading over the radio, Don remembers the joy of sharing words aloud.
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Family · Reflections
John and Margaret Smith
Don imagines his parents sharing the story of their lives, their family, and their enduring faith.
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Family · Reflections
Margaret Leaving
A drive together in Florida brings three siblings back to a tender family farewell sixty years earlier.
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Family · Reflections
What Really Matters
Don’s loving tribute to Jan and their five children—the people at the heart of his life.
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Growing Up · Reflections
Three Women
A teacher, a cook, and a friend from another world—three women whose kindness and confidence in Don stayed with him for life.
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Family · Faith & Reflections
Who Am I?
An unexpected question leads Don to reflect on faith, family, love, and a lifetime of gratitude.
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Growing Up · Humor
Summer School
A quarter’s worth of licorice turns an ordinary day at Bible school into an adventure Don never forgot.
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Growing Up · Career
Our New Hay Baler
A new farm machine fascinates young Don—and sparks the curiosity that leads him toward a lifetime in engineering.
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Career · Family
A Business Trip in January of 1967
A visit to Goodyear becomes an unforgettable journey home when Don and his colleagues encounter the blizzard of 1967.
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Growing Up · Family
Uncle Loren’s Junk Pile
Old tools, colored bottles and blue glass insulators—to Don and John, Uncle Loren’s junk pile was a trove of treasures.
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Growing Up · Family
A Meal at the State Fair
A one-day summer vacation filled with tractors, treats and fairground wonders—and a simple family lunch Don never forgot.
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Growing Up · Family · 1939
A Picture From Another Era
A faded photograph recalls Sunday dinner, the shade of the big maple, homemade ice cream, and the joy of belonging to one another.
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Growing Up · Family
Billy — Our City Dog
From a long bus ride out of California to life on the farm, Billy’s stubborn spirit and soft spot for Margaret made him unforgettable.
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Family · Humor & Everyday Life
Cars
A grand childhood Cadillac, a beloved red Oldsmobile, and the family cars whose mishaps became unforgettable stories.
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Career · 1959–2001
How I Got My First Job
A friend’s encouragement and a visit to Peoria change Don’s plans—and begin a 41-year career at Caterpillar.
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Growing Up · Family
What Was My Mom Like When I Was a Child?
Don remembers Margaret Mary Raftery Smith—teacher, reader, singer, woman of faith, farm wife, letter writer and mother.
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Growing Up · Earliest Memories
My Earliest Memories
The little Pike County farmhouse, Mom’s songs, flickering lanterns and the sound of Dad’s tractor returning over the hill.
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Growing Up · Family
What Was My Dad Like When I Was a Child?
Don remembers his strong, quiet father: farmer, inventor, storyteller, respected neighbor—and one unforgettable morning with a giant homemade kite.
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Growing Up · Pike County Folklore
Ghost Stories
Cold winter nights, a nervous kerosene flame, and the old country ghost tales Dad and Uncle Loren told while Don and John listened from the bottom stair.
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Growing Up · Spring 1945
Planting Corn
Don remembers the May morning he and John Edward helped Grandpa Smith guide a horse-drawn corn planter across the family fields.
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Memories & Reflections
The Wind
A Japanese bell on the patio opens a lifetime of memories—winter winds, summer storms, barns, pine trees and a favorite willow by the stream.
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Growing Up · Age Seven
Northern Lights
A late-spring evening at the Mink farm becomes unforgettable when a stalled truck, a dark walk home and the Aurora Borealis converge.
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Career · 1960–2001
My Career at Caterpillar
Forty-one years of engineering, machines, patents, people, leadership, travel and the opportunities that shaped Don’s professional life.
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Travels & Adventures · 1971
My First Big Trip
A green Oldsmobile, Route 66, two tire blowouts, the Grand Canyon, Disneyland and a family adventure all the way to California.
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Growing Up · Pike County
My First Home
Don remembers the small sharecropper house where his family lived through the Depression and World War II, and the new home that finally arrived in 1947.
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