With this new change coming up in my life I've been thinking a lot about life's purpose and the impact each of us has in our own respective sphere's of influence. I think most people want to be successful, I want to be a successful person, but what are all the things I need to do in my life in order to feel achieved? Well that got me thinking about what does success mean? Is it the number of fans in your fan club? Then I started to think,who am I a fan of? Well the first person who came to mind was my Grandpa Fielding.
He's not only grandpa to me, but to the many of you who have enjoyed riding, and leading the buggies hitched up to Prudence and Potlatch (were those the names of his horses?), and sat around his cowboy table playing rook, and chess, and pot, and any other game that was the new rage. When I was home this summer I was asking my grandpa a little bit about what he did in WWII. He was a flight mechanic in LA. As he was telling me about it he stopped and said, you know "I shouldn't have quit that job, I could've been an astronaut." I have no doubt my grandpa could've been an astronaut and a heck of a good one. He's smart, hard-working, and not afraid of risk; but, he chose instead to be a potato farmer and rancher and he's been just as successful doing that. Not to mention the thousands of lives he's influenced along the way.
From a little cowpoke in Idaho Falls. . .
To a Farmer in Blackfoot, ID
To a Cowboy Poet in LaGrande, OR
This summer we celebrated Grandpa's 84th birthday. Thanks Grandpa for being the coolest cowboy around. When I think of success I think of you. And lots of love from ALL OF YOUR GRANDKIDS and their friends.
Love,
Ashley
Grandpa's Favorite Phrases:
"You little scallywag (or rumdum, darn kids, unfarmerlike kids with a college education)!"
"Your Grandma was an English teacher you kids should have better grammar than that."
"Thanks for helping me with my chores kids, it only took me a half hour longer than it usually does."
Cowboy poem:
Click here to memorize Jake the Rancher, Grandpa's most recited cowboy poem. Recite it at your next party, but remember to slip it in naturally as though you're telling a story about your friend.
http://www.cowboyfun.com/jake/
6 comments:
Ash, I SO enjoyed this post (as always, you are a great writer!) about your grandpa. Especially the cowboy poet picture and the things he says a lot. Glad you are getting out of the morning sickness phase--a HUGE congratulations to you! I am SO happy for you!
Yeah, Ash, this was a fantastic post, done in the usual well-written Ashley style. THanks for writing about your grandpa. I laughed out loud at the picture of him in the bonnet. Wow, I can't believe you've lost so much weight. That was hilarious about the 140+. I am so happy for you!
Congratulations Ashley, I'm so excited for you. Too funny about tracking Dan's weight as well.
Again, we are sooooooooo... excited for you guys! We wish we could be there to celebrate with you! And...even if you get to 140+, you are still going to look better than the rest of us!
Loved this post Ashley. this was very sweet and of course made me think of my dad. We're blessed to have such great men in our lives.
Hi Ashley,
Congratulations to you and Dan:)
You guys are going to be the greatest at parenting. I know - Sam still talks about how much fun you two were.
I loved reading your tribute to your Old Cowboy Grandpa - It's a great way to celebrate his life.
Christine Shelton
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