Shero is a word I don’t see often. It refers to females admired for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. It reminds me of the RFD-TV show called FarmHer. The show focuses on women in agriculture and captures the stories of women and their connection to the land.

Whether the word is hero, shero, farmer of farmher, I think about men and women I hold close to my heart. I call them friends. They are people who helped me grow-up, know myself, feel joy, and survive heartache. When each receives my Christmas card, I hope they sense their value.

Three weeks from today is Christmas, and my holiday perspectives have changed since I retired. Friends are more significant. They likely don’t know it, because my routines and behaviors haven’t change, but friends are regularly in my thoughts. Maybe it’s because parenting and career responsibilities are less pressing, or because I am on the downhill side of living and have more freedom for memories. No matter the cause, I’m grateful for mental time with old and new friends.

Some memories make me glad my mother didn’t know what I was doing. One or two memories come to mind with Evelyn Beilenson’s book, “You’ll always be my friend, you know too much.” Remembering lessons earned with school friends usually evoke twinkles and smiles.

Those memories include Christmas shopping at the Dime Store, Jacks competition, church and school parties, and vacation shenanigans. I had wonderful childhood friends.

Farm friends earn admiration, and my German work ethics fall right into stride with the farmers and farmhers. They were and are on my list of heroes and sheroes. Christmas hayrides, holiday bridge or pinnacle parties, Santa (neighbor) showing up on Christmas Eve in full character, and family and friends singing carols at the piano flood my favorite farmwife memories. Of course, laughter was always present and overflowing. It validates how sharing a life of isolation and financial adversity create strong friendships.

I agree with Lauren Bacall, an American actress during the golden age of Hollywood, who said about friendship, “In the world of relationships, possibly the most complicated, uncommon, hard to find, hard to keep, and most rewarding has got to be friendship.”

I also like the proverb, “A mirror reflects a man’s face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friend he chooses.” In fewer words, “Our friends are our mirrors.”

Thank YOU for being my reader friends. You are farmers, farmhers, heroes, and sheroes, and I hope you sense YOUR value.

Until the next time: Live while you live

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