QOTD

[randy_byers]

I loved my dad and enjoyed working in the fields with him. Never yelled at me if I did something wrong. I remember one time when the two of us were working in a field each on a tractor. The harrow I was pulling got clogged with debris so he told me it was time to go in anyway so I should take the tractor he was driving that was pulling a disc and he would take care of the jam. He told me to watch the left side as I went through the field gates as it stuck out further on the left side. So off I went. And, of course, I hit the gate on the left side which broke the wooden tongue of the disc. I stopped and broke into tears. He came over and just told me not to fuss, it was fixable. Unhitched it and I drove the tractor to the shed. I wonder if I was more than 10-12 years old.

One of his famous comments to every one including his wife was 'let's not fuss about it'.

-- my mom in e-mail

Comments

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

That's a lovely little portrait of your grandfather.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Yes, I thought so. I particularly loved the little concrete details of farm life that inform the story.

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

If only I'd heard those words regularly as a youngster, I suspect I'd be a very different person today.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

As I told my mom in reply, those would be good words to live by.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Although I should probably add that my mom had a very contentious relationship with her mother, so it wasn't all sweetness and light for her. She was a daddy's girl. And even then, grandpa said some very cruel things when as an adult, married woman she cut her hair (which was considered sinful in conservative Mennonite circles).

[farmgirl1146.livejournal.com]

Your mother and her father created a wonderful heritage for you. Of course things get contentious, that seems to be the way of the world. Still, your post and comments are very touching. I plan to use your grandfather's line. Thank you.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Maybe I should have it tattooed on my forehead ...

[voidampersand.livejournal.com]

The forehead tattoo is supposed to say "poor impulse control". But let's not fuss about it.

[farmgirl1146.livejournal.com]

Some people would fuss about it. I suspect it must be tattooed on one's heart.

[farmgirl1146.livejournal.com]

I don't know how to do it, yet, but perhaps there should be one of those FB fan groups: like "1,000,001 people say let's not fuss about it'."

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Facebook should be called Fussbook.

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

Great QOTD.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Sez another daddy's girl.

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

Guilty, guilty, guilty, and proud of it.

[ron-drummond.livejournal.com]

You are your grandfather's grandson.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

And yet I can't remember a single thing he ever said to me. Or my other grandfather, for that matter. It's very strange, except maybe not for men of that generation, I don't know. And their faces are clear as a bell in memory.