I have an overwhelming urge to get something off my chest. These days, a blog is the proper platform for that sort of thing, right? I don’t even know where to start or even how to go about putting my feelings in words without sounding like a horribly selfish person. So, feel free to judge me for what I am.
I might as well start from the beginning of our story. My freshman year at Purdue, I fell head of heels in love with J.R . - a sophomore Mechanical Engineering Technology major. Life was good! We had a blast together through four years of college and looked forward to what adventures graduation would bring. Working at a swanky resort on a tropical island would be perfect! Or, maybe we could move to North Carolina where there would be an abundance of engineering jobs, as well as something in the tourism industry. I needed excitement!
With a diamond ring on my finger and a diploma in hand, I headed out to celebrate with friends and family after my graduation ceremony. I happened to check my voice mail on the way to a friend’s graduation party. The message was an offer to interview for the Executive Director position at the tourism bureau in my hometown. Why not? Not necessarily what I had envisioned, but by taking this job, I could plan my wedding close to home and save some money for a year until we get married. I got the job! Great for now. Then, after we are married, we can get on with our lives.
Flash forward a few months. I am busy getting the hang of my new job and planning our wedding. JR has just been offered an awesome engineering position with a company in Evansville. Okay, I guess we’ll stay in Southern Indiana. That very same day, his uncle, his dad’s farming partner, passed away. JR felt the need to step in and help his dad on the farm. Okay, I can deal with that, I have my career.
Three years in at the tourism bureau, I realized I wasn’t happy. My husband was always working and I wanted to move on to something bigger, away from home. I applied for and was offered a marketing director position. I accepted the offer and threw myself into my job. At this point, it was all about my career and what made me happy. JR was always busy, so I wanted to be sure to keep myself busy, too! We moved to a cute little subdivision to be closer to my job. I craved the excitement and was thrilled with the new doors this job opened.
The PR opportunities were amazing. After a few years in this position - I now have a regularly standing television segment and the local radio personalities all know me by name. I send out press releases and then you better believe you will see me on the evening news! This must be success! Lots of people know me and I am a heck of a networker. I am being quoted in newspapers and in magazines. I’m planning events that are becoming wildly successful and people are noticing. This is exciting!
At work, I didn’t really place much emphasis on the fact that my husband was a farmer. We didn’t live on a farm and I’m sure some of my coworkers didn’t even realize that my husband farmed. I was, by no means, ashamed that he was a farmer. Heck, my dad had a tremendously successful career in the agriculture field, so I’ve been proud of the industry, my entire life! Farming was my husband’s job and it kept him away from me many weekends and evenings. I’m not saying that I was resentful, but it did put a damper on my social life and I felt alone a lot. Maybe I was a tad resentful.
When we were blessed with our first child, life was good and the job was still okay, but increasingly demanding. The job wasn’t very conducive to having a family, but what job is? I had excellent benefits and a pretty good salary so I kept plugging along. A girl’s gotta work!
I started noticing a few things that bothered me about my job. First off, I am a Christian and religion, especially Christianity, was a taboo subject at work. That really wore on me. The other big thorn in my side was that any references made about farmers were derogatory. The few times farming or farmers came up, it was in reference to polluting the environment or growing those awful GMO’s. Not that anyone knew anything about them; they just knew they were bad. I was infuriated anytime one of those conversations took place. I just wished there was something I could do or some way I could change their minds. Truthfully, I just wanted to punch them in the face for bashing my lifestyle. A transformation was happening. I was identifying farming as MY lifestyle, not just my husband’s occupation.
Eventually, the negativity at work started to wear on me. After our second child was born, I was done! I was ready to move home and get back to my roots, not just for myself, but also for my husband and our two boys. I wanted my kids to be exposed to the farming lifestyle to a larger extent than just riding in a tractor or combine a few times per season. I wanted to move to an area where the occupation of farming was understood and appreciated. I wanted to raise some country boys! My husband told me we couldn’t move until I found a job where I was able to make at least as much money as I was making at my current job. I really don’t think he believed that I would!
As luck would have it, I was in town visiting my dad one day. The boys and I met him at one of my favorite childhood restaurants. As I sat there enjoying lunch, I thought, wouldn’t it be nice if I could work someplace like this? We got home and I opened the local paper. Believe it or not, there was an opening for a sales and marketing position for the company that owned the restaurant. It was fate. I applied and got the job!
Things have been crazy since then. I commuted for a while, we switched daycares, we moved into my parent’s house, we are currently preparing to move into a rental house, and will be starting construction on our, hopefully, “forever” home. It is only 15 minutes from the farm and out in the woods…perfect. I keep telling myself that nothing is easy and sometime you just have to keep your eye on the prize.
As all of this is occurring, we were presented with an amazing opportunity to be part of the National Corn Growers Association/DuPont New Leaders Program in January in Des Moines, Iowa. I had no idea what to expect, but when I got there, I found it to be such a fantastic experience during which I learned so much! First of all, there is a way to mesh my background and my passion. Secondly, speaking out for what I believe in actually can make a difference. Furthermore, the people I previously wanted to punch in the face aren’t necessarily bad people, they are just either not educated on the topic or misinformed. It was amazing to meet so many likeminded people that not only had similar interests, but were also fun to get to know.
This conference gave me the desire to speak up for what I believed in. One tool our presenters suggested was a program called CommonGround. I had never heard of it, but quickly learned that it is the perfect vehicle to promote the facts about agriculture in an age of social media. It is such a great approach! From the comfort of your own home, you can help a soccer mom make good food decisions for her family! Recently, I joined this organization and am extremely excited to become involved and, hopefully, make a difference. If not, it won’t be from lack of trying.
To wrap up this long winded blog, I feel that at this point in my life, I am not concerned with many of the trivial things that used to consume me. My goals are to be a supporting wife for my husband and raise my children in a safe and nurturing environment. I want to devote my energy to something I believe in, not personal gain. I want people to know that my husband is a farmer and I am extremely proud of that fact. I want everyone to know that it really is okay to feed your family food that contains GMO’s. I want to embrace the world of agriculture and all of the wonderful opportunities it has to offer. As you can see, this is not a new blog. I am dusting off our much neglected family blog and I look forward to posting and sharing some antics about our life as a farm family! I look forward to sharing the story of MY FAMILY FARM!
No comments:
Post a Comment