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

[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).