I see you…
I see you when you are out in the frigid cold, feeding your livestock.
I see you when you are working that second and third job to make sure your kids have shoes and your family has enough to eat.
I see you when you are exhausted, defeated and crying when it doesn’t rain, when it rains too much, when that calf dies despite your best efforts.
I see you when you are nervously paying the farm bills, hoping that load of soybeans/wheat/corn will cover the expenses.
I see you when you are trying to keep your family and your spouse positive and encouraged even when you feel like throwing in the towel.
I see you when you are told you are an animal-killer, even though you just spent an hour saving a piglet.
I see you when you are in the grocery store and someone complains about the price of cereal, or the price of milk, when you and your family are working so hard to provide the food we take for granted.
I see you when you hold your tongue and remain gracious when someone makes a biting comment about “greedy farmers.”
I see you when you try to explain why you use pesticides on your crops (to kill the bugs or the weeds) and the other person obviously has no interest in your point of view.
I see you and I just want to say thank you.
Thank you for doing a job most people don’t have the strength or courage to do.
Thank you for providing people with food and clothing, even when they tell you – to your face – you are doing it wrong. Never mind that they have never set foot on a farm.
Thank you for being a role model. A positive influence. A tenacious spirit. A lover of hard work.
I know how moms are the glue that keep families together. I know you are the glue that keeps the farm together.
From this non-farm mom to all you farm moms, thank you.
Happy Mother’s Day!