Joe Shirk
If you were to ask anyone who knows me or has ever had a conversation with me, they would all probably tell you the same thing, he likes to talk. However, when I was asked to write a story about myself the task proved harder than I expected but I figured I’d give it the Jr. College try!
To say that I come from a large family would be an understatement, I won’t bore you will all the details of the family tree and I usually try to avoid doing math in public, but I will try to put it in perspective. I am the oldest of my fathers 7 children, the 3rd oldest of my grandmothers 44 grandchildren, she also has 36 great grandchildren and 1 great-great grandchild (my grandson). Additionally, there are numerous other aunts, uncles, cousins and adopted family members running around that are just too many to keep track of.
Family has and will always be a large part of my life and who I am as a person. My work ethic and passion for service to country, community, and others all comes from my family and how I was raised. I come from a rural, blue-collar area of the great state of Ohio. Where growing up everyone you met knew someone in my family. We weren’t known for our wealth, public status, or social standing; we were known by our names, and who’s son or daughter we are, who our aunts, uncles, grandparents, and great grandparents are. Every interaction led to a story about how they went to school, or church, or worked with, served with, played music with, met or was friends with someone in my family. As a child I never understood the significance of this or the impact it would ultimately have on my life. I found it annoying at times when I would be out with my parents or grandparents, and they would strike up conversations with strangers and end up genuinely invested in the conversation and the other person’s life. It wasn’t until later in life when I realized the compassion, empathy, kindness, and service to others that my family showed and was shown. What I found annoying as a child has shaped who I am as an adult.
Now I’m by no means a Saint, but the lessons I’ve learned and continue to learn from my large family are the driving force behind my 20+ years of successful military service to this country, my passion to advocate and support causes like mental health and suicide awareness, and the understanding acts of kindness, being respectful and polite to others, or simply saying hello cost you nothing.
My father and grandfathers instilled in me the principle and belief of “Family Above All Else” so if you want to know about me, that its. My family is my life, they are the reason I am who I am and why I strive daily to be the best version of myself. From my fiancé, my children, and my grandson to the matriarch of our family, my almost 81yr old grandmother, and everyone in between my family is who I am and without them I would be nothing. They say you can’t pick your family but if I could, I would always pick mine!