A modern family business story inspired by "The Two Sons" in Matthew 21.
It was not big. It was not small. It just was.
A small town in the mountains surrounded by the forest.
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On Main Street near the center of town... -- Image by ChatGPT Imaging.
On Main Street near the center of town was Dawson & Sons Hardware.
The tagline on the marquee sign out front said, "Family-Owned Since 1973."
Old man Dawson, as the locals called him, ran the business with the help of his two sons.
At this point in his life, he spent most of it behind the counter while his sons did the heavy lifting.
Every year, it was getting harder and harder for Mr. Dawson to do the work needed in the store.
Time had wrinkled his skin.
His hands trembled while doing simple tasks.
His once beautiful dark, flowing hair had thinned out and turned gray.
It all told the story.
It was getting close to the time to hand it off to his sons.
Mr. Dawson received a morning phone call.
One that he was not happy about.
He thought to himself, "Of course, it is Friday."
He wrote in the Saturday box on the calendar, "Delivery, 8 AM."
Now he had to deliver the bad news to his sons.
He called them into the office.
"Eli, Jake, the lumber delivery for this afternoon has been delayed due to a mechanical issue. It will arrive tomorrow morning. Be here at 8 AM sharp."
The older son, Eli, looked at the floor, then back at his dad.
"Of course, Dad. You can count on me."
He paused.
"You know I won't let you down."
Jake, the younger son, had a look of frustration, perhaps even a little anger.
"Seriously?"
He looked at Eli, then back at his dad.
"It seems like every weekend it's something. Well, I have plans for this weekend."
With that, Jake stomped out of the office, grumbling the whole way.
Eli patted his father on the shoulder.
"I'll be there."
He left to get back to work with Jake.
After closing up the hardware store, Eli was hungry.
He went to his favorite place, O'Malley's Bar.
A few beers wouldn't hurt.
Eli ordered one of their infamous double chili cheeseburgers. Well, infamous in his mind, that is.
Several of his buddies arrived. He bought the first round. His friends took turns buying shots.
What started out as dinner turned into a full-fledged party.
Around one in the morning, Eli stumbled out of the bar.
He started home.
Going up his street, he noticed that the sidewalk kept moving on him.
He thought the street might be better.
Well, it moved around too.
At home, he plopped onto his bed and passed out.
Earlier that day, Eli suggested that Jake go home early so he could enjoy his weekend.
Jake took him up on the offer.
At home, with the sun setting and darkness creeping in, Jake started thinking about his dad.
Mostly about how he was not getting any younger.
The daily work was taking a toll on him.
Trying to get that off his mind, Jake fixed dinner.
It consisted of salmon, rice, and asparagus.
He stared at the plate.
Picked up his fork and shoved the food around.
He could not shake his thoughts of his father.
"Damn it. I know what I need to do."
He made a phone call.
Saturday morning came quickly.
Jake had stopped at the coffee hut for his morning fancy brew.
As he approached the store, he could see the lumber truck was already there.
He unlocked and opened the gates.
While the driver was pulling in, Jake fired up the forklift.
The driver parked the truck and got out.
One by one, he unstrapped the load.
Jake watched from the forklift.
The driver walked up to Jake and handed him the bill of lading.
Jake took it and read it.
He looked at the driver.
In a moment of levity, he said, "You know, it's about time you got here. I've already downed my coffee!"
The driver laughed.
Knowing he was on time, he blurted back, "Sorry, I seriously needed coffee too. I had to walk all the way down to the coffee hut to get some."
Then he chuckled.
"Usually, where I deliver, the coffee is already brewed."
Jake smiled.
"It's Saturday. We don't brew coffee on Saturday."
With that, Jake put the forklift in gear and started unloading the truck.
He knew the driver had another delivery to make and, like Jake, he was working on his day off too.
In less than thirty minutes, he had the load off.
For quite a while now, old man Dawson had hired high school seniors to work weekends.
It worked well for everyone.
Both of the current seniors showed up on time and opened the store.
They were a bit surprised to see Jake already working there.
He was stacking the lumber in its proper location.
One of the seniors, a young woman with aspirations of leaving the small town for college, stepped out back and started cleaning up.
Nothing was said.
Jake simply joined her and helped finish the cleanup.
He smiled at her and gave her that "thank you" nod.
She returned to her regular duties.
Jake turned a bucket upside down and sat, tired, sweaty, but oddly satisfied.
Mr. Dawson showed up near noon to check on the progress.
He saw that the lumber yard was in perfect condition.
He looked at Jake.
"You did all of this?"
"Well, no, not all of it. I got some unexpected help from the young woman you hired. She didn't say a thing, just did what needed to be done. Give her a big thank-you when you see her next."
"That is awesome, son. I will do that."
Dad paused and looked around the yard.
"Where's Eli?"
"Dad, I have absolutely no idea where Eli is. He was a no-show this morning."
"I wonder what happened. Did you try to call him?"
"No. Too busy."
They looked at each other and shrugged.
Dad replied, "I'll call him in a bit if he still doesn't show."
Jake nodded his approval.
"Jake, take a few minutes and go over to O'Malley's Bar and get four of those infamous double chili cheeseburger meals. Have them put it on my tab."
"Four?"
"Yup. I figure if the young woman helped you, the other guy had to do double the work. Let's feed all four of us."
Needless to say, the weekend warriors were very happy about lunch.
Jake and his dad ate quietly.
And Eli, he finally showed up mid-afternoon.
Sunglasses covered his eyes.
Fresh-made fancy coffee from the soon-to-be-closing coffee hut in hand.
Jake said in a normal voice, "It's about time."
Eli yelled back, "Do you have to scream?"
His head was pounding like a meat tenderizer beating on it.
"Where is the loud hammering coming from?"
Jake had a confused look on his face.
There wasn't a hammer in sight.
Getting ready to head home, his day done, Jake chuckled to himself at the hammer comment.
Eli sat down on a milk crate, holding his head in his hands.
Noticing that Eli had finally made an appearance, a very unhappy Mr. Dawson went outside.
"Eli, I need you to come into the office. Now."
Eli looked at Jake.
"He's mad. This is not going to be fun."
Jake shrugged.
Eli went to the office and sat down.
"Eli, you said you would be here this morning, and you were a no-show. Jake said he would not be here. Can you even see the trouble that would have happened if no one had shown up this morning?"
"Sorry, Dad. Things got out of control last night."
At this point, Dad spoke sternly.
"Yeah, you got stupid drunk last night. How irresponsible is that? Go home. I'll see you Monday morning."
With that, Eli left.
Catching Jake as he was leaving, Dad asked him to come into the office.
Nothing was said about Eli.
Dad looked at Jake.
"I cannot tell you how thankful I am that you showed up this morning. You show respect. People see it. Your work ethic speaks for itself. I would like you to start taking on more responsibility in the day-to-day operations."
"What about Eli, Dad?"
"Not your problem. Are you ready to eventually run the place?"
"Yes, I am."
That started Jake down a new path.
One that was quite unexpected.
As time went on, he worked hard to learn the business.
Eli and Dad had another argument, mostly over Eli's drinking.
He quit working at the hardware store.
He found another job.
Of all places, he started working for the lumber company.
Yay, weekends off.
If you want to say hi to Eli on the weekends, you will find him planted like an old tree at O'Malley's Bar.
Inspired by Matthew 21:28-32
Synopsis:
O'Malley's Bar echoes the biblical account of the two sons, where one son says the right thing but fails to act, while the other initially resists and then follows through. When an aging hardware-store owner asks his sons to help with an unexpected Saturday delivery, their responses reveal more than their words. The story explores responsibility, integrity, and the quiet difference between sounding dependable and actually showing up.
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