Pops
Since I came into the world about the same time as my father became a grandfather that created a grandfather like image for me. It stuck throughout my childhood and certain occasions reminded me of it often. He asked me to help him with the chores or farm work , and I just said that “I can’t I am too busy tonight”. A phrase that hurt him more every time it left my lips. He tried to understand that farming didn’t appeal to me. Therefore he helped me with my interests like baseball and science as much as possible.
My father became a farmer at a young age when his father pasted away he just reached the age of thirteen and that forced him into taking care of the farm. He didn’t get a choice in his childhood of what to be. He will be a farmer so he can take care of his mother and the rest of the family. Even though my dad didn’t have a choice like I did he made the best of what he received from his father and turned his knowledge of farming into one of the first ethanol companies in the area. He desperately wanted me to follow in his footsteps, but I gave no thought what so ever to becoming a farmer. I wanted to play ball not work all day. He might even play catch with me sometimes, but after a car accident the right side of his body became paralyzed for a short while. After that it seemed very hard for him even to throw a baseball or play catch with me at all. Although he desperately wanted to play with me his age and that accident prevented him from spending quality time with his youngest son.
He didn’t like the fact that I hated farming because he farmed his whole life and farming was a part of him just like I am. As he taught me how to farm I dreamed of biology and baseball games. I never realized how important it was to him that I learn how to farm. I got caught up in other things that never gave him a second thought like stars, the NFL draft, and movies. His day climaxed when he read the daily paper and listened to the news. We definitely take interest in different things, but we talked frequently about them with each other.
His age held him back from a lot of fun things that most fathers do with their sons. Playing football and other sports conflicted with his age and strength at times. Everything I wanted to do his body didn’t allow. He tried just to make me happy, but the energy of a kid exceeds that of a fifty or sixty year old man. Schoolwork became a problem as I got into high school. I asked him a question about cellular biology once that in the end confused us both. He always tried to answer my questions about school, but trying to help can be worse than not helping at all sometimes.
I tried very hard to be completely different from him. As I grew up I realized that I am just like him. I may not be a farmer, but I am hard working, soft spoken, very giving, and I care about people that I don’t even know. He never pushed me into farming or anything else I didn’t want to do, but he taught me how to be a good man by being an example of it. We both came to understand that living our own life will make more of a difference than following in someone’s footsteps.