Summers on the Farm - How I learned the meaning of strength from my grandfather
This is Suzette’s story, as told by Katie Ryan.
Of all his closest grandkids, I think I understood him the most. My grandfather, Otto, and I were always very close. As a kid, I would spend every summer with him on his farm in Michigan learning how to work the soil and take care of the animals. I’ll never forget the mornings he would wake me up before dawn. We’d walk to the barn in total darkness and complete stillness as the first ray of sunshine would stretch over the horizon. I learned at an early age what it means to be in peace.
“We’d walk to the barn in total darkness and complete stillness as the first ray of sunshine would stretch over the horizon.”
Looking back, I don’t think Otto was loved in a conventional way. After growing up in the late 1800s, last in a long line of kids, it came as no surprise that he described himself as simply a farmhand for his parents. He adopted the toughness required for him to leave his family’s farm in Switzerland and move to America. Upon his arrival, Otto worked on a farm in Ohio until he was able to purchase his own land. He founded his own business and managed to retire at age fifty-five, which was very unusual in his time. It was no secret my grandmother married him for his money, which makes me sad to think he didn’t get the kind of unconditional love most of us want in our lives.
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