The Early Years Part 2

    My father had to do something different, and it was very apparent that he had no choice. He won’t say it, and my grandfather is not here to talk about it but remember this is though my eyes not his.     

    My grandfather had 6 kids, and he seemed to believe that the first born was more important than each child that succeeded the next. Therefore, the oldest obtained the most and my dad was the last born. What exactly did this mean? Well when it came down to it he was the low man on the totem pole. The last thought, as he was the baby. 

    He decided to go out on his own and leave the family business. He originally went to college for a degree in agriculture. At the time a college education was not as important as it had become in the early 2000’s. He was able to start out as a mechanic at a grape farming company, not table grapes but wine grapes. The fertile Salinas valley is sometimes called the salad bowl well, because they grow a lot of things that go in salad. 

    The harvest season was long, and he was gone for weeks at a time sometimes. Can you imagine 3 young boys and their poor mother who never had a chance. We were busy little guys it was interesting, and now that I am raising children of my own I have no idea how she kept up.  I can only assume it was a lot of work, and there was no computer games or iPads to keep us busy. Luckily we had a large yard and played outside a lot. Heck we were little farmers in the back yard.  

    It didn’t take long for dads boss to see he was a hard worker, he basically noticed this when he came to the hardware store and saw my dad work. You see I am pretty sure he headhunted my dad right out of the hardware store. A short time after he was hired as a mechanic he was promoted to a supervisor. 

    I feel like I missed something, you see my dad was a jack of all trades. I never thought anything of it growing up because he could pretty much do anything with his hands. From working on cars, to remodeling a house or even building furniture. 

    The fact of the matter he could do anything, he was a worker and a leader all rolled up into one. He wasn’t afraid to get dirty when he needed to, but he could also dress up and lead the meeting if needed. He does a lot of the latter now, but who could blame him he is getting up there in age. The thing was it wasn’t uncommon for him to be overseeing his many employees, but also get under the hood of a harvester and get greasy. When it was harvest season, we knew he would be home much and when he was he was sleeping. 

Wes Tankersley the early years…

    It was December 3rd 1980 early morning and that’s when Wesley James Tankersley was brought into the world

    Tom and Laurie Tankersley’s second son, Gregg was born 2 years earlier and now had a brother. At this point Tom and Laurie live in Soledad California. Laurie was a home maker, something that was not looked down upon in the those days. Tom worked at Soledad Hardware store, a family owned business started by his father Drury and his best friend. Drury or Dude as most people knew him was what most people would call an Entrepreneur these days. He spent some time in the Army, and Navy. He had 6 kids 5 boys and 1 girl. Leslie his wife had been by his side for many years. 

    We lived in the hills near the Soledad Mission the first few years of my life. Sometime around the time I started Kindergarten my parents purchased a triple wide mobile home and put it right down the road from my grandparents home. Just a quick walk though the almond orchard, and we were at Grandma’s house. She always had treats in the cookie jar, whether it was cookies or whole made candy you could always count on Grandma. 

    Grandpa drove an old station wagon, the kind that had the wood paneling and back seat that faced the back of the car. This was the last resort when you had a bunch of people in the car. I remember my mom used to borrow the wagon when she was hauling the us and our friends. 

    Mom and Dad didn’t have much, and one month before I turned 2 my little brother was born. I sure as hell don’t know how my dad and mom did it. At 42 my son Nolan turns one tomorrow, and my daughter Tatum is nine. Let’s just say Kristine and I had a late start in parenthood, but more on this later.  

    Dad didn’t make much at the time working at the family hardware store. He always worked his ass off though and passed this work ethic on to his children. I am not sure how they made it in those days, I am pretty sure he made something like 5 dollars and house at the time. Can you imagine that today? Raising 3 boys, and trying to take care of your wife and self as well. It’s really crazy when you think of it. 

    So crazy that when he asked my grandfather for a raise of 1 dollar he said no, and my dad started looking for another job. You see he wasn’t tied to his family, and realized he must do something different. 

I’m not Crazy, I’m just not you…

There have always been outsiders in your life and mine looking in with judgment. They have desires and dreams, however they are not your dreams.  The dreams are theirs and they won’t understand you. Most times when you discuss this with them they will look at you like you are crazy. Like what the hell is this guy doing…

I was a different person 20 years ago, I was a different person than I was yesterday. Many people call me an over thinker, what they don’t understand is that I am an analyzer. I am looking at the goal and finding all the different angles in terms of how things will work. It’s amazing to me how much I can flip a scenario and find the good in the bad or vice versa. 

The problem with outsiders that truly don’t take the time to get to know you. To truly understand who you are, they make assumptions that you are a different person than They want you to be. Living up to others expectations will never yield the results YOU are looking for. 

So… What’s my point? Do not ever sacrifice who you are to meet others expectations. If you know what true North is, stay on the path. Your path may be filled with twist and turns, the finish line may not be a straight line. You may have to change and redirect your path, but remember where the end is!

If you are reading this, you are a Success Warrior!