Ian Thiermann ran a tree preservation and pest-control business before retiring 25 years ago. The 90-year-old still enjoys doing yard work with his wife Terry.

"One soggy mud pie. " "Yeah."

But he'd never thought he would be forced to go back to work to make ends meet.

They've put this job out for me, and so I am gonna do it the best I can.

Thiermann took a job at a local grocery store after losing his entire life savings, more than 700,000 dollars to disgraced Wall Street financier Bernie Madoff. He says he will never forget the day he got the call from his investment advisor.
When he called me in December, he was in a state of total shock. I've never heard of him. I mean, this is an attorney. He said, "My father, my mother, right with my aunts, uncles, we have lost everything, I have lost everything, and you have lost everything."

He still has home payments to make and his wife's medical bills to pay. The grocery store owner created the greeter position for the long time customer after hearing about his ordeal and calls Thiermann an inspiration to others going through tough financial times.

His will to succeed after losing everything. People are saying to me, " You know what, I can, I am gonna step up to the plate, I am not gonna, I am just not gonna sit here and take, I am gonna step up and make something happen." And, yeah, he's just such a type of person.

If you haven't tried the soups, they're outstanding.

Thiermann says he has little time to dwell on the man responsible for his crisis, but his wife does have feelings about Madoff.

"I feel sorry for him, because he has to live with the consequences of what he did."

Thiermann says he will continue to work, 30 hours a week for ten bucks an hour, but he says he will spend no time feeling sorry for himself.

"Got a job to do."

Haven Daley, the Associated Press, Ben Lomond, California.

Notes

(1) Step up to the plate: If people step up to the plate, they take on or accept a challenge or responsibility. (Origin:在棒球运动的大菱形内场上人们注目的焦点在球场下端的角上。这是个十四英寸见方的木块或者橡胶，称为本垒，home plate，也可以简称为垒，plate。击球手就站在这块 plate上面，击打投手向他投掷的球。当一名棒球运动员准备击球的时候，他就拿起球棒踏上本垒。英文的说法就是:step up to the plate.)

(2) Dwell on: To keep one's mind on sth.