My grandfather, we call him Papa, was a machinist for a big factory in Kansas City that made jet engines. He was a member of the IAM, the machinists union and he lived in company housing with my grandma and their young children. He worked nights and my grandma worked at a grocery store all day so they could build their first house. He would work nights at the factory, work on the house during the day, and then did dinner with the kids when my grandma was at work. Papa was always very proud of being a machinist, and said that he even got to work on the space backpack for NASA. My Papa’s strong work ethic was something that lasted him into old age, and doing something that you can take pride in is something that has always stuck with me.
Natalie Patrick-Knox is a Campaign Organizer for Immigration and Workers’ Rights at Jobs With Justice
