To my father farming is everything.
Farming is a way of life.
It’s all he knows.
He dropped out of high school to become a farmer.

When people look at my father they see many things.
Most see him as an uneducated farmer.
Some see him as a good guy.
When I look at my father I see a teacher.

He didn’t have much to give.
So he gave us knowledge.
Most people think that farming is all about taking care of animals.
I’m here to tell them otherwise.

Farming involves many more complicated subjects.
Through farming my father taught me math, science, history,
reading, and geography.
He started teaching me when I was two.

Where most kids had playpens I had calf pens.
Most kids had swing sets I had a little wooden swing in the barn.
For lunch most kids sat at the table.
I stood at the milk tank.

I knew that I was different from other kids.
I used to think it was bad,
but only now do I realize it was good.
In many ways I started school before most kids.

Most of my classmates consider me to be smart.
Today they have learned where it all came to start.
People say I have my mother’s smarts,
but I know where they really came from.

My father’s heart.