Lessons Learned on the Farm

Our father was hard working and an innovator. Our mother was a true partner. Through faith, work ethic and public service, they patterned success for us. Country school, country church, and tragedy (polio, heart attack, loss of limb) all shaped us into the people we are today.

Believing that there are valuable lessons of life and faith to be gained by examining our past, and that family history is important because the family is the fundamental unit of society, we recorded a small portion of our family’s unique heritage of not only living on a dairy farm, but prospering as well.

Response from A Reader:
What a delight it was to be reminded of everyday life in the 50’s and 60’s in a farming community. Maybe it DOESN’T require a “village” to raise a child . . . a township seems to have done the job just fine in the case of the Porter children. The contributions of extended family, neighbors, churches, teachers, doctors and friends were shown to be the treasures that they truly are in this down-to-earth memoir. I wish the children of today could experience the life of hard work, self-esteem, generosity, faith, respect and love that I read on these pages.