Dear Friends,
Thank you for being there for me when I couldn't be here for you. I know its been a long 18 months since I last wrote to you. However it was never because I didn't think you cared or that I had something to share, but sometimes life just gets in our way. For me it was healing from my surgery and learning to balance my life and health to become a great mom and wife again.
Christmas 2017 My family
My husband and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary this year. We took a dream vacation to New York to see the changing fall leaves. One or two days in NYC is more than enough for anyone. We saw the Broadway musical wicked and I loved it. Then we spent several days driving in upstate New York and in Pennsylvania. I enjoyed seeing Amish country around Intercourse PA. We also made it to Woodstock and I really enjoyed the museum of this moment in history. The Hudson river was also another highlight. However I can honestly say I am a country woman at heart and will always return home to my Deer Creek roots.
Dillon Senior Prom 2017
Our son Dillon has spent the year at Southeast Community College on the Milford campus studying the John Deere diesel technology course. By October of 2019 he should graduate with a degree and then go into his internship with Landmark Corporation. The branch he is working thru is in the neighboring town of Arapahoe. He hopes to complete his internship and one day return to run the family farm. I'm excited for him and a bit scared at the same time. Farming is currently in a major crunch and I just pray that if this is the path for him we will have a family farm for him to return to.
Kailee and Amelia summer 2018
2018 is coming to a close and I'm proud to say that I am the successful mother of a senior in high school and the aunt to a wonderful senior in high school. This has lead me to several college visits this past month and I'm amazed at just how much college has changed in a quarter of a century. I'm also currently in sticker shock about how much it cost to get a degree in this country. In my opinion you want to know what is wrong with is country start with the fact that somewhere society decided that as a parent you are responsible for your child's college education expenses. And even if you don't plan on paying for it thanks to the FSAFA your child is penalized if you have a 2 income household and have ever made strides to own anything beyond your family home. I was unaware that being a responsible adult would mean that my child could suffer the burden of extreme financial debt to reach the career of her dreams.
Amelia Senior 2019
Amelia wants to be come a Physical Therapist and return to rural america (Nebraska) to serve the small population of people that she grew up around. Yes the farmers and their families are where her heart lies. Guess you can take the kid out of the country but you can't take the country out of your kid. I am very excited to see her complete her dreams and we are working very hard to make this 7 year degree a real possibility. She has a excellent high school GPA of over 97% and received a 25 on her ACT. I know she is not the top student applying to colleges but she is way above average. She has been awarded the RHOP (rural health opportunity program) alternate position to Wayne State College in Wayne Nebraska. What this means in a nut shell is that she is the back up quarterback for this program and if at anytime in the next 4 years the student above her changes their career path or fails to meet the requirement to maintain the award she will become the RHOP representative and receive full tuition. I have no problem with the idea that full tuition only covers classes and books. I mean we all live and eat even when we are not in college so room and board are what you have a part time job and savings to get thru college without debt. However I was unaware that a family that makes less than $80,000 a year (4 in house hold) would be responsible for up to $9,000 of assistance to the student per year. America I think you need to rethink this and make college affordable to children so we have a generation of great people in our future.
Kailee Senior 2019
My niece has been offered several scholarships and I am very proud of her. She is currently deciding where she will go to become a chiropractor and once she knows where life will take her I will update you all. But the coolest thing I got to do with her was go to her interview at Baker University in Kansas this last month.
2019 will be her is a few days and I'm looking forward to enjoying 2 more graduates in our family. Praying for all their dreams to come true and looking to become the best mom/aunt I can be for them all. Yes I'm still raising Nubian dairy goats, helping run our family farm, and helping my husband operate our automotive repair shop as well. But the last 18 months have taught me that work will always be there and if something happens to you your job will be filled before your funeral is over. However, your family grows up and moves forward as life is supposed to happen and if you are too busy working that you miss out on the moments in your family's life then you can never get that time back. So my wish for all of you in the upcoming new year is simple. Take time to enjoy the life you are living now and stop living for the life you hope to have someday.
Until we meet again....Proud to be a American Farmer's Daughter
Sincerely
Andrea Sayer
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