The Last of the Family Farms

THE LAST of the FAMILY FARMS recalls what it was like to have grown up on a family farm some fifty years ago and how the learning experiences of today's youth differ so sharply from the learning experiences of a child growing up a half century ago. On the family farm, early learning experiences came from family members and from Sunday and public school teachers. The food which sustained our lives came from the animals and vegetables that were raised on the farm. Work was an integral part of living on a family farm. One didn't "go to work" or "go home"; they were one in the same. There was a unique partnership between farm families and the Almighty Himself as each depended upon the other to grow the crops and raise the animals. And so a strong belief in God was established very early in a child growing up on a family farm.

After having retired from my job as an engineer and manager at IBM Corporation in Endicott, NY, my wife Jeanette and I moved to Canandaigua, NY some ten years ago. We love the balance between country and small town living that we enjoy here in the Finger Lakes region of NY. It became apparent to me that to some extent my children and to a greater extend my grandchildren do not really know me, and so I began the process of recalling what it was like to have grown up on a family farm. This process has taken almost two and half years to complete, but has brought a great deal of satisfaction and closure to my life.