Entries from September 2, 2007 - September 8, 2007
Labor Day Travels
Traveling to Ohio and back in four days is not what I call a rushed trip, but it was not exactly a leisurely visit either! However, when Vickie's uncle passed away and the funeral was set for Saturday, it worked out that we could get out of Atlanta and join family in Urbana and so we went.
Funerals tell you a lot about a person. Seeing children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, along with nieces and nephews and half the county made a certain statement about the kind and quality of life Von lived. I don't suppose most folk who knew him would call him a saint, but I can assure you that if he gave you his word you could take it to the bank. And if you needed help pulling a tractor out of the ditch or putting up the last of the hay, then he would be there.
When a man lives in the same township all of his life and on the same farm for 40 years and does business with the same grain elevator and buys his chemicals and fertilizer from the came co-op, then you get to know the person. And Von got to know you. And in all that living, joy and sorrow, good times and heartache was shared.
I first met Von on Thanksgiving Day in 1981. I was the boyfriend of the niece who showed up for dinner. After the usual teasing and the traditional trip out to the barn/machine shed to look at the latest tool acquisitions, I was just one of the company of men. Though slightly distrustful of persons who made their way in the world by using their mind instead of their hands and back, Von pretty much took people as they were.
Not a bad philosophy all in all. Honesty, family, quiet self-confidence, and a willingness to take people as they were.
So sitting in a funeral home last Saturday was a good reminder of some rather important things. What did you learn over the holiday weekend?
Carson Reed
in People and Places
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