Hello friends and neighbors,
I was driving down the hill the other day and passed by the old milking parlor where we milked our small herd of cows when we were growing up. Since we now milk our big herd on the back side of the farm in the 20-stall parlor, the old home parlor is now used for storage. Anyway, as I glanced over there I saw those wooden cutouts of our 43-years-ago family peering out the window and it made me jump! Seeing those young faces all there in the milking parlor just like we would have done 40 years ago really took me back. Since I grew up milking the cows in that parlor every night with my dad while everyone else passed through the parlor to feed the calves and the pigs and steers, I felt like I stepped back in time. What a precious time that was with my dad. Sometimes just sitting on an upside down bucket, sometimes actually doing the milking, I loved that time talking with him about life and politics and faith and family and the cows and whatever struck our fancy. How blessed I am to have had that dear time with him. Sometimes, as a teenager, I was mad that I had to milk when my friends were going shopping or hanging out somewhere; today, I’m so thankful for that guidance that kept me busy with responsibility and being productive! And I wasn’t the only one being busy; all of us took turns feeding calves, cleaning the house, making supper, working in the store, and doing laundry. As a mom now, even though Don and I only have two kiddos as compared to Mom and Dad’s five, I know it takes everyone to make a home hum, let alone a home plus a business.
We five siblings always say that Mom and Dad always made us feel so loved and special, even if we did have lots to do and even money pressures too. And they are still doing it today with their 21 grandchildren….making them know how special they are one at a time. Recently, Mom and Dad took a trip to Penn State to visit my oldest son, Donny who is a freshman in Animal Science at University Park. How precious for them to make that drive, take him out to lunch, hear all about his plans for his schooling and life, visit Alpha Zeta Honorary Ag Fraternity house (in which Dad and brother Sam and I all were involved), and just love on the boy- away-from-home. I know they’ve taken tons of these trips all over the country to visit many of the other grandchildren in college, but since Donny’s my first, it just really hit me that this Loving Legacy continues into the next generation. God is good.
Thanks for letting me ramble.
Love, Marcia
