Peter Feldstein
2007
Bud Miller
[The Oxford Project]

Inkjet print
Welcome Books
I stayed on the farm for a year, then I enlisted in the Army. They sent me to Arlington National Cemetery. It was a lot of spit 'n polish, and I wanted to go someplace else. So they sent me to Wheeler Air Force Base in Hawaii, where I was a clerk-typist.
 
When I got back, I farmed for five years. But I didn't like it. I ended up selling life insurance for Western Bohemian Fraternal Association. I stayed on for twenty-six years, the last twelve as president.
 
You're selling an intangible. You have to be persistent. It's harder today than it used to be. People don't plan as much for the future. If someone says no, you move on, but you never sever ties. You want to stay active in community affairs. I was on the school board for six years. And I helped with girls' softball and Little League.
 
I'm a tree hugger. I've planted five to six thousand trees on my property pines, ash, and oaks. I also have a two-acre pond.
 
My only regret is that I would have went to college. Maybe I'd have had more confidence.
 
Bud Miller
 
From The Oxford Project. Welcome Books. Photographs © 2008 Peter Feldstein.
Text © 2008 Stephen G. Bloom. www.theoxfordproject.com
 
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