22 Years Ago to Today

22 Years ago today...Dear Farmer married the Wife.  A girl who didn't fit the description of anything he was looking for in a woman.  The Wife married Dear Farmer...who wasn't a farmer back then, he was a Welder, which is good, because the Wife wasn't going to marry a Farmer.
21 Years ago...Dear Farmer, who was a Welder,  became an Electrician...which is good, because the Wife wasn't going to be married to a Farmer. And the Wife told the Electrician that he would be a Father.
20 Years ago...Dear Farmer, who was an Electrician and a Father traded in the "sports car" for a "sedan" and sold his motorcycle and bought a boat.  Which is good, because the Wife is a beach girl, and boating is a family activity.
19 Years ago...The Wife told Dear Farmer, who was an Electrician, he was to be a Father...again.
18 Years ago...Dear Farmer, who was an Electrician and a Father sold the boat and bought a truck.
17 Years ago...The Wife told Dear Farmer, who was an electrician, "It would be so nice to have another baby."
16 Years ago...The Wife was expecting another baby, and Dear Farmer, who was an Electrician, started his own electrical construction company.  It was "...& Sons, Inc." because all he had was boys.  But the baby was a girl.  The name of the company did not change.  And this was all good, because the Wife was grateful she hadn't married a Farmer.
15 Years ago...Dear Farmer, who was an Electrician, bought a cottage by the lake for the Wife.  Because she was a beach girl and loved to be near the water.
14 Years ago...The family was expecting another addition again...and all the children had chicken pox...and Dear Farmer, who was an Electrician, sold the "sedan" and bought a 15 passenger van...because he had an inkling the family was going to get bigger.
13 Years ago...The Wife thought, "This is it!  We have "arrived" and life cannot get any better!"
12 Years ago...The family was expecting another addition, and we hosted Thanksgiving in the cottage with thirty-one family members and friends and celebrated being married together 10 years.  And The Wife was grateful because Dear Farmer wasn't a farmer, he was an electrician.  And Dear Farmer was grateful that the Wife had learned how to cook, and loved to host people!
11 Years ago...The family was expecting again, and Dear Farmer started to not like being an Electrician...he was unhappy.  And the Wife was just praying he would do anything...but don't be a Farmer!
10 Years ago...Dear Farmer, who was an Electrician became a Builder.
9 Years ago.....The family was expecting again, and Dear Farmer, who was an Builder, began to sell his "...& Sons, Inc" business in pieces.
8 Years ago.....Dear Farmer, who was a Builder, built a barn for a friend.  A beautiful barn!!!  The Amish friends came an "oooo"-ed at his craftsmanship.
7 Years ago....Dear Farmer, who was a Builder, built a fence for the friend who he built the barn for....and during the building of the fence, the friend asked him about farming cattle...what do you do? how do you do it?  And that was the day Dear Farmer thought about being a Farmer...a dream of his since he had been young.
6 Years ago....The family was expecting again, and Dear Farmer was a helping a friend learn farming, and he was still a Builder.
5 Years ago.....Dear Farmer closed the business "...& Sons, Inc." and became a Farmer full-time.  And the Wife was not really thrilled, but God had softened her heart and she was learning to love a "farming" way of life. And preparations were made to move out of the cottage and away from the lake.
4 Years ago....Dear Farmer and the Wife moved the family out to the farm and they hosted Thanksgiving where 43 family members and friends were present!  They all celebrated being together, grateful that God has made us the wonderful family we are, grateful that God can change hearts, grateful that God is in control of our lives.
3 Years ago....The family was expecting again.  Dear Farmer and the Wife were learning the ebb and flow of life on a farm.  The family was learning the work, the diligence, and the dedication it would take.
2 Years ago... Dear Farmer thought, "This is it!  We have "arrived" and life cannot get any better!" And Dear Farmer and the Wife celebrated their 20th anniversary.
1 Year ago.....The family was expecting again. And the Wife was so grateful that Dear Farmer was a farmer!  And she was grateful that she had learned to love the things he loved, and love the life he loved.  And Dear Farmer was grateful that he had married the girl he had, and that she was a woman that embraced everything that God sent her way and loved him, his children, and his neighbors. It was all good.
Today....Happy Anniversary, my darling Dear Farmer!  He's on the road today picking up the heads of the cattle that just went into the butcher.  The restaurant will buy it all. I'm so glad you love being a farmer...I can't imagine being married to anything else, but YOU, a farmer!