This Christmas Season, Make the Time- In Loving Memory of Grandpa Wilson

This week, one year ago, we were getting ready to make the big trip east with the kiddos for Christmas with my family.  It was a crazy-busy time, but knowing we'd miss the family get-togethers here in North Dakota, I made special plans with my husband's Grandpa's Girlfriend (got that?), Lorraine, to have Christmas supper with Grandpa out at the farm.

 

We had completed our first full year of operating our farm on the Wilson farmstead that Grandpa's father purchased, here in rural Jamestown, North Dakota, in 1935. 

 

They barely scratched a living out of the place in back in the "Dirty Thirties" and somehow recovered from going broke on two other farmsteads in the area. Great-Grandpa and his sons had marched their dairy cows across the countryside from a township away, and were eventually able to move a house onto the place.

The Wilson Farmstead in the 1930's. The verse in the upper left was a favorite of Great-grandmother Susan Wilson's.

Then in 1962, Grandpa, along with friends and family, tore the old house down and in the same spot, built the house that stands today. 

 

There we were in late 2011, with another of the fifth generation of Wilson's on the farm having arrived in our young son.  We had good reason to celebrate!

 

Our normally jovial Grandpa Wilson had just turned 91 in November, and he hadn't let age stand in his way before, but that week, he wasn't really in the Christmas spirit. Grandpa didn't want to decorate. He didn't want to really go anywhere and he wasn't feeling so well after battling a variety of illnesses over the recent months, but once Lorraine (or Grandma Bair, as we refer to her) and I had made supper plans things began to change.

 

When we arrived at the farm that night, we were all happily surprised to find that Grandma had convinced him to decorate the whole house up- every window was decked out- and there in the middle of the living room floor was a sight my girls still talk about- a three foot tall glowing Santa, surrounded by presents.

 

That night Lorraine and I really put out a spread, and I have to give her most of the credit, because we only brought the pork chops and stuffing. It was an old-fashioned Christmas dinner with all the fixings and a sight to behold.

 

Grandpa, Grandma Bair, Jeremy and I, and our three children gathered around the table.

 

We ate, we visited, Grandpa reminisced.  It was like a Norman Rockwell painting brought to life. 

 

After dinner we settled in around the living room and exchanged gifts. Grandpa and Grandma Bair were even good sports and donned the paper crowns that came in their "Christmas crackers", which are a family tradition my Aunt started years ago.

 

 

 

I forgot my camera, so we snapped these with one of our cell phones.

 

These are the last photos I have of our precious Grandpa Wilson. 

 

Later that week, sitting in his chair by the door, with his boots and coat on, waiting for Lorraine to comb her hair so they could go to town, he quietly passed away.

 

Except for a short time in his early married life when he and Ruth (his late wife) lived in town, he had lived all 91 years on the farm. He hadn't spent a day in a nursing home, and was with the second great love of his life when he passed.  I say it was a blessing we had his company as long as we did.  It was a privilege to have spent many hours recording family history with him.  He was a friend, a mentor, a wealth of knowledge, and hardly a day passes where I don't wish I could ask him just one more thing.

 

My question to you today- with all the busyness of this Christmas season, will you MAKE the time to reconnect with a loved one, or make a new friend, or simply find a way to bless someone?  You will never, ever regret it, and it may just be one of the best memories you ever make. This, my friends, is what Christmas is all about.

 

God bless you this CHRISTmas,

Sarah :)

 



 In loving memory of W.C. "Bill" Wilson, November 1, 1920 - December 16, 2011.



Happy National Agriculture Day!

In 1920, J. Harry and Susan Wilson, Jeremy's great grandparents (below), settled where we still farm today.

We are busy raising not only the fifth generation on the Wilson Farm, but also food (corn, wheat, soybeans) and fuel (ethanol) for YOUR family.

(photo by www.paulyjamesphotography.com)

Happy National Agriculture Day!

If you did the following today...

- Ate food

-Used ethanol to fuel your vehicle

-Wore cotton or wool clothing

-Or used one of the thousands of household, pharmaceutical, or health products derived from livestock and plants that a farmer has raised

...remember to THANK a farmer!

Take a few minutes to learn more about the History of Agriculture in the United States and take a gander at these videos to learn how far agriculture has come:

One Hungry Planet

Some Food For Thought

Thank You, America's Farmers

Have a great day!

Sarah :)

Back To The Future

History has always intrigued me. Maybe it's genetic. My Dad is a huge World War II buff, and as a child, I remember our house being filled with shelves of history books, paintings of planes signed by famous pilots, and spending hours with him watching documentaries. I learned the importance of studying the past, both mistakes and successes. Now I'm not saying that I haven't had a blunder here and there, but I figure, in most cases, it's easier to spend a little time seeing how other folks have erred and try to prevent repeating them, than it is to learn things the hard way.

As an 8th grader, my main project for the year in my U.S. history class was a term paper on "Agriculture from 1900-1990". Now THAT was overwhelming. From horse-drawn equipment to the invention of the cream separator, the tractor, and then modern equipment- WOW! Farming has come a long way in a short time! In fact, just 70 years ago, in 1940, the average farmer fed 19 people. Today each farmer feeds 155 people! (Source: http://www.ageducate.org/)

As part of my research for that 8th grade project, I spent an afternoon with my Grandpa Thomas interviewing him about all the changes he had witnessed growing up on my family's farm, living through the Great Depression and WWII, and working later in life for a local John Deere dealership. Thankfully, I recorded the interview with my little red battery-powered cassette player. That tape is now a treasure.

At the age 26, I realized that Grandpa Thomas, then in his mid-80's, was likely nearing the end of his days. I rushed home to visit with him, armed with my digital video camera, and a list of questions. It broke my heart that when I arrived I found that the chemo treatment he'd had that day had completely wiped him out and he passed away just a few hours later. I was devastated to lose one of my best friends, and I never got the chance to ask him so many of the things I still wonder about today.

Sometimes we do have to learn things the hard way. Not wanting to miss another precious opportunity, I've MADE the time to sit down with my husband's Grandfather, Grandpa Wilson, who will turn 90 this fall. I've been interviewing him, scanning the amazing collection of family photos he has, and recording the history of our farm, with the kids clamoring around and all.

What an amazing journey this has been. You'll definately have more posts to read on this in the future, but here's a little tidbit to whet your appetite.

My husband's Great-grandfather, J. Harry Wilson, was a true innovator in agriculture. He left the east coast, homesteaded in Indiana, then Kansas, then North Dakota. Going broke, and starting over each time. In fact, the farmstead where we farm now was the third farm in the Jamestown area where J. Harry had tried to make a go of it. Grandpa Wilson tells me he was a "hard man", and "wiry". Five feet eleven and about 140 pounds of pure grit. He had three young daughters when he lost his first wife, and re-married to Grandpa's mother, Suzie, a school teacher in her earlier years.

When they got to North Dakota, he and another farmer went to Wisconsin and brought the first dairy cows back to our area. He was one of the first farmers to individually feed his cattle based on production. Take a gander at the picture of J. Harry and Suzie Wilson, with horses Molly (left) and Libby (right). This picture was taken in 1914 in Salina, Kansas. They brought Libby along when they moved to North Dakota.

From the sounds of it, J. Harry was a brilliant man, with a solid work ethic. But as Grandpa Wilson says, he would "pinch a penny, but lose a pound". "The last farm he lost, he could barely pay for the land, but he had a good crop and went out and built a new silo on the place, and put in all new steel fence posts, and when he lost the farm, all the improvements he made stayed with the place." By the time they'd gotten established where we are now, Grandpa Wilson was getting old enough to help out and manage things for his father, and in my opinion, he saved the farm.

So here's the lesson of the day from my time with Grandpa Wilson: Work hard, but treat your family with respect and kindness. Try like the dickens to stay out of debt and invest in the things that last.

And the lesson I'd like to share with you all: Be sure to make the time to thank those in the wiser generations for their efforts. From the way Grandpa Wilson lights up when he shares his memories with me, I can tell he's enjoying our visits as much as I am.

Sometimes going back and taking a stroll through the past, can help you step forward into the future. I hope my husband and I can continue to learn from the past and the present so we can provide future generations the opportunity to farm.