Chapter 14When my father lost his job just a short time before he was due to retire, it was terribly stressful for him. He had always worked and was embarrassed to be seen during the day unemployed. The strain made him ill and I was worried sick that it would kill him. Fortunately, at that time, Patricia and I came into money and we bought our orchard. This enabled us to offer my father a lifeline by employing him to advise and assist us. We needed his help as we knew nothing about how to care for our trees, to get the most from them. He loved the work and we could pay him until he reached retirement age. It was a win, win situation. We would have continued to pay him a salary, but he flatly refused to accept our money, assuring us that his pension was more than adequate, and only agreeing
