Page 29 - Harnett Life Winter 2019

for the wildlife to eat, so the treehouse could be a place will likely endure.
where he and Talon could sit quietly and be mindful of
their surroundings. He wants his grandson to learn about “I’ve never sent an email in my life,” Matthews chuckled,
nature and wildlife by observing it firsthand, not by pas- pointing out that Cody handles all the emails and the billing
sively searching the internet for an easy answer. “That’s side of Matthews Construction, and said he hopes Cody
the fun part of it,” he said, seeing Talon learn more each will carry on the business. “No matter what comes along,
day as they spend time in the tree house together. we’re still blessed,” he said, and it is clear that his ambition
is to share those blessings and help as many people as he
Between raising his grandson and running the business can through his work.
with his son, there has been plenty to keep him busy, and
he explained how his original blueprint for retirement was
mapped out differently, but everything fell into place de-
spite the change of plans. An incredibly close friend, who
was also a long-time coworker, was set to become Mat-
thews’ business partner when they were both retired, but
his sudden and unexpected passing changed the course of
events. During this time is when Talon came to live with
him, and Matthews established the business by having
Cody come to work with him full time, which was still a
familiar scenario for them both. While still working full
time at John Deere, Matthews did jobs for neighbors and
others in the community during his off time, after work or
on the weekends. Cody was there working with him all the
while, learning from his dad in the same way Matthews
learned those skills from his father. Matthews knew long
before he retired that he wanted to grow his construction
business, if not solely for the fact that he truly enjoyed do-
ing this type of work. “It’s such a blessing to have [Cody]
working with me, because it’s fun,” he said. “He learned
it growing up just like I did,” also noting that Talon has a
tool set of his own, an indication that this family business

Harnett Life ~ Winter 2019