When my wife, Robin, and I moved back to West Tennessee in the summer of 1997, we bought a home outside Rutherford with plenty of space for a garden.

For many years, we had lived in subdivisions, where “garden” was little more than a container with some tomato plants. This time around, we had space, so we purchased the needed tools. Bermuda grass tangled constantly in the tines of our old tiller, but we stuck with it. We added “organic” fertilizer from a neighbor’s barn, raked out the grass and were finally ready to seed. 

When I say “we,” I mean the whole family, children included (though they were less enthusiastic than Robin and me).

Robin and I were so proud to see things start to grow, but we quickly realized the work was just beginning. Tilling Bermuda grass and adding fertilizer was like throwing kerosene on a fire — almost impossible to contain. Still, we kept at it and couldn’t wait to show our neighbor, Mr. Workman, our progress. 

Our bubble burst when he said something along the lines, “You call this a garden? It looks more like a flower patch.” Compared to his beautiful garden, ours had a long way to go. Of course, he meant no harm. He and his wife were wonderful neighbors, but the point made in jest was a lesson about investment.

Gardening takes lots of planning, hard work, financial resources, and time to cultivate into a productive patch of land. Mr. Workman made that investment over many decades. 

I pondered the investment I made as a child in my family’s garden and the lessons I hoped to pass along to my children through ours. Childhood lessons usually extend into adult life, and that’s true of gardens as well as electric and broadband utilities. 

We must plan carefully, spend wisely and work hard to reap the rewards. Thank you to our customers for your continued investments and to our employees whose efforts keep Gibson Electric and Gibson Connect so productive. After nine decades, that partnership and commitment continue to bear fruit.

Charles Phillips is president and CEO of Gibson Electric and Gibson Connect.