17 May NO PLACE LIKE HOME
An old sepia photo of David’s grandparents has them seated uncomfortably on a fallen tree in the woods. Oddly, they’re wearing their Sunday best—cotton dress and black suit. David never saw them in those clothes because Zetta and Reeves labored every day, on their farm, and at Spartan Aircraft, where his grandfather worked in maintenance.
In 1935, during the peak of the Dust Bowl, Zetta and Reeves decided to pull up stakes in Oklahoma and head for California, the promised land.
David’s dad, also called Reeves, was 7 or 8 at the time. Near his death and battling Alzheimer’s, he told David that he still could feel the cold in his fingers from picking cotton, which the family did to survive. It was such a bitter winter that Reeves senior packed up the family, turned around, and returned to their Oklahoma farm. “If we’re going to die,” he said, “at least we’ll die on our own land.” David comes from tough people.
Many of you also come from tough beginnings and have forged your career in fire to be successful. When you speak, use your background as material. Make sure to link your observations and/or experiences to your topic and keep them brief. It’s not self-aggrandizing but gives audiences a strong sense of where you came from, what shaped you and why we should listen to and trust you.
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