This farming wife has had a hard time focusing on farming lately. We have been so touched by the elderly around us and their circumstances. I just want to take some time to focus on how to take in every word they say, apply it and cherish every moment with them. We are facing the fact that we may lose one of the dearest people that we have every had the privilege of having a part of our daily lives. Losing this person not to death but to distance. It saddens us greatly to not have this person a part of our daily lives. I know it is a fact of life that people either pass on or move on. But let’s take some time to take their words to heart and learn from them.

 

So we have been told by the elderly that, “The golden years aren’t so golden,” “Don’t wait to have fun until you are retire. Have fun while you are young and can still move,” “Getting old is terrible, don’t get old!” That leaves me wondering . . . . . .  how do we have fun and enjoy life while living this farming life or more like this market gardening dream? It is very labor intensive and requires us to be on the farm or marketing for the farm everyday of the week. We have been trying to take one day a week off to have fun, but that doesn’t allow us time to travel or get very far from the farm. The only answer I have to my own question is to learn to live on less, money isn’t what matters, just enjoy our time together, and don’t put fun activities off until tomorrow or wait for retirement. My vote is to do it now! And make time to visit your grandparents and all the elderly around you. Listen to their stories and advice and take it to heart. They know what they are talking about; they have lived through a lot and experienced more years of life than you have. That makes for a lot of knowledge they are carrying around. What if my generation applied that knowledge now, I think we could live a very enriched fulfilling life. There is a famous quote that I have heard many times, “Wisdom is knowledge applied.” So let’s seek out that knowledge, apply it, and savor the time with the ones around us. Then we can be wise.