This essay is dedicated to a man that took the time out of his day to teach me about apartment maintenance. But simple apartment maintenance turned into learning experiences that I will always remember.

I was 15 years old, looking for a job, when my brother told me that him and his boss need some extra help. His boss was a landlord. I took the offer. I was a little nervous because I did not have an idea of what to expect.

When I arrived at the well-kept apartments, I met an older man. He walked towards me happily with his hand out and said, “You must be Dylan!”

I reached out and shook his hand.

He squeezed my hand until it went numb and said, “Call me Mr. Williams.”

The handshake finally ended and as I held my hand, feeling it to see if he completely cut the circulation off, I said, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Williams.”

On the first day he had me painting the trim of two different apartments. While painting Mr. Williams would check in with me to see if I slacked off and made any mistakes. And sure enough he pointed out several spots I missed. He was easy going until it came to work. I painted the spots I missed and after getting called out 10 more times, I finished painting the trim in both apartments. I started to stretch and I felt accomplished with the work I had done.

I tell Mr. Williams, “I’m done.”

He says, “ Great job, now let’s get started on the windows!”

Mr. Williams used to work me and my brother like dogs. Looking back, I’m happy he did. He showed us what real hard work is like and it made us both mentally and physically stronger. He rewarded us for our hard work by giving us breaks and buying us lunch. I was intimidated when I first met him, but I soon realized how much he cared about me and my brother and how he wanted to teach us about the world. He was only a boss but a father figure.