The Book of Lasts
By John w. Vander Velden
It
seems that first times get all the credit.
A good example is the book kept by new parents. First words, first foods, first tooth, first
steps, important milestones of their child’s development. And it doesn’t stop there. No, we always remember the firsts in our
life. The first day of school, our first
bicycle, the first time we drove, and on and on. They are important. Firsts are
about beginnings, and beginnings are positive.
Its endings we have trouble with.
For
me this year has many things I would place in my book of lasts. A mental record of when changes occur in my
life. As I approach the end of my
farming career, I understand that things will change…and I hope that those
changes will be for the better. All
spring it has been on my mind that this, my 45th, will be my last
crop. When I began this part of my
journey I would never have imagined reaching this milestone. Not that I doubted I would live long enough,
but rather could not imagine my life with out the tasks that has filled my days
all these years. But now as I stand on
the threshold and go through the preparations of closing that door, I take a
moment to consider the lasts, the last tillage, the last planting, the last…all
of it. Hmmmm….
But
the book of lasts is not the only record I keep. For all through my life I have kept note of
firsts. With the closing of this chapter
I anticipate adding to that list. Before
me is a very busy schedule, so many things I hope to achieve. As long as I have
breath, there will be firsts before me. I plan to set out in new directions for
lasts and first go hand in hand.
So
next year when I look over another man’s crops growing on my farm, I will
understand that it is not a symbol of my labor, my worries, my limited
talents. Those plants will remind me of
all my years, of all my experiences, all my successes and disappointments. I will remember that first year I farmed and
all those firsts long past, and consider the first that lie before and not
dwell on my book of lasts.
(467 Words) 8-15-2016
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