Thank You

When you're a kid, you just don't get it. You don't get how lucky you are when you are raised by amazing people. You only see all the "injustices" of life like having a curfew, driving a beater car, and how ____________(insert sibling name here) always gets his/her way. Then you go away to college. Funny how smart my parents became when I was the one getting an education. I remember writing my parents a letter thanking them for my last 18 years. After being on my own for a while and meeting kids from all different walks of life, I realized I had it GOOD. My worst "problems" growing up were hardly problems at all. Funny how green the grass is when it's no longer right in your own backyard.



Have you heard the song Amarillo Sky by Jason Aldean? Google it if not. It's my dad. With the exception of the Amarillo part. :) I actually tear up every time I hear it because I'm so proud of the work he's done all these years. Farming isn't easy, it's not glorious, it's not very lucrative, but it's what he LOVES, and he wouldn't give it up for anything. Even when he has a bad year, or it doesn't rain when it's supposed to, or it rains too much and he has to start over. It's his LIFE. And I hope he knows how much that life gave us--things like integrity, honesty, patience, faith, and the importance of good old fashioned hard work. It's these things I want to pass on to my own kids. I want them to have more than just his blue eyes.


And while I can't speak for my husband's childhood, I know that he too had it pretty good. I remember my first date with R--he told me his dad was a farmer and his mom worked in a school and he too had grown up in a small Midwestern town. It was one of the things that first attracted me to him--we came from this similar "place" growing up. (Oh and he also drove a beater car. Is it weird that this chick was impressed by a beater car?) I want to thank my father in law for all he did because he raised an incredible young man who grew up to be the daddy to my girls. And you definitely can't put a price tag on that. More thank yous to come tomorrow. :)