A Farmer and His Great Grandson.

There is a song called, “Farmer’s Blues” that always tears me up when I hear it. Every time it plays I think about my grandfather (Papa). Most people will never know how hard the life of a small Texas farmer and rancher is.

You see… my grandfather has been a farmer and rancher pretty much his whole life. Every morning he’d wake up at the break of dawn and work in the hot sun until it would go down. And then he’d do it all again the next day and the day after that. Each day was a struggle. A struggle with the weather, with finances, with equipment that would break down, with low cattle prices and it would continue on and on. But he kept doing it to provide for his family.

Today the land is gone, the equipment and cattle has all been sold and the farmer now tends a vegetable garden next to his house. The life of a small Texas farmer and rancher is slowly fading away as the big business farmer continues to take over. It makes me sad that Luke won’t spend summers at the ranch feeding cattle, building fences and tagging calves like Daddy Russ and I did when we were young. But I am so grateful that he gets to know this farmer and rancher…his great grandfather. I love you, Papa.