165 Transcript: Keep On Keepin’ On (with Wanda Johnson)

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J: You're listening to the Vibrant Happy Women podcast episode number 165. We're talking about persistence; that determination to never, never, never give up. Stay tuned.

Hey, friends, it's Jen and this is Vibrant Happy Women, and I am super honored and excited to bring a special guest to you today, and that is my mom, Wanda Johnson. She is a retired farmer and hard worker from southwest Iowa, and she still lives just 3 miles away from where she grew up as a child; so it's a really cool area of the world really. She knows everyone from her small town, she is an extrovert, she's a lot of fun, she's an amazing grandma, and I'm going to talk to her about a number of things. But the main theme you'll notice in everything she says is to never, never, never, never give up, to keep on keeping on, to just go to sleep when things feel bad and to wake up and work hard the next day and make things happen. And my mom and dad are probably the 2 most hard-working people I know and they love to work, and you'll hear that in this interview. A lot of us hope good things will just come to us, but the fact is we have to take action. And when we take action, things shift; and you'll see that in this interview. Well, I don't want to keep you waiting any longer, so let's go ahead and jump in and hear what my mom has to share.

Hey, everyone, welcome to Vibrant Happy Women, and today, I'm interviewing my mom, Wanda Johnson, and she's from southwest Iowa where I grew up with her of course. And she's a retired farmer who loves gardening and crafting. She has 2 sons and a daughter (that's me), and she's super extroverted and fun; everyone from our hometown knows her and loves her. So, mom, welcome to Vibrant Happy Women.

W: Thank you, Jen, I'm happy to be here.

J: Alright, so I know you have a motto for us, and what is your motto?

W: It's not really a quote… a motto, but it's like I guess my motto of life is perseverance, suck it up, get on with it, just keep going and it'll get better; just keep at it.

J: I like that; suck it up (Laughs). I don't think you said that to me growing up, but you definitely….

W: No.

J: … taught us not to be babies. (Laughs)

W: Yeah.

J: … to toughen up. (Laughs)

W: Get on with it.

J: Yeah, yeah. Well, so tell us about your life low point.

W: I can't tell you any specific low point. I can think of some low points, but they're kind of a private thing. My low points, I've had lots of them, but none of them were too overwhelming or bad that they had a debilitating or just shocked me into nothingness. You know, I've always been able to, I guess, go back to my motto and get on with it, have a good day, make yourself tough through it. And it seems like sometimes in the evening, things would really be bad, but you go to bed, get a good sleep, and in the morning, it looked like a completely different problem; it looks something that you could solve…

J: Yeah.

W: … if you went on with your life.

J: Yeah. Well, I've shared with everyone before that our family kind of has a history of depression. So a lot of people out there, 1 in 4 women have depression in the US, what has been your experience of that, you know, when you're feeling low and… and what helps you bounce back?

W: Sometimes when you get that low, like a medication quit working for me and I had to switch medications. I mean, I was like desperate to get into a doctor that day; I have got to have something done. I think get on a medication, get with a professional and get some help, get the right medication, and it gets you through; it's a no fault of your own. And I felt that shame or I didn't take care of it myself and I've always been raised that way, lived that way, “You take care of your own,” but that is something you cannot overcome sometimes without medication. And mine is a chemical because I don't have any problem I need… I probably could use counseling, but I don't think a counseling thing would get me through that, it is a chemical imbalance. And when I am on my medication, I feel just fine. I can take care of myself and I don't get those overwhelming bad feelings. So I think get with a professional.

J: Yeah, thanks, that's awesome advice. So tell us more about the area where you grew up and still live now. I mean, not a lot of people can say they're living in the area where they grew up, so just tell us about it. What's it like there in southwest Iowa?

W: Oh, it's not real… they're not… aren't a lot of cultural opportunities, but we know everyone. Everyone would pitch in and help us. If something happened to our family, we would have so many people there right now to help us; without a word, they'd be there. That's one of the best things. You know, there's… you have to drive 60 miles for shopping or fun or to go out to eat, not always, but, you know, that's where the more… the fun places are. But that's an easy fix because we've got so many great people around here. And I am not sophisticated and knowing all, but the basic human, they're wonderful people. You always get a smile, a hello, a visit; everyone knows everyone. And sometimes that isn't so great either, but for us, that is a great thing.

J: Mm-hmm. And I think it's really cool that from your house, you can't really see any other people, it's really beautiful to have that much nature. So tell us more about what you love about nature because I know you're an avid, avid gardener. My mom has (Laughs) so, so many big beautiful gardens, people come and visit them. So, you know, tell us your thoughts about just nature and, you know, how you like living around there.

W: I love it, I don't know if I could live in a city. Gardening and outside, I just love outside. I think I'm low on vitamin D and I need that sun, so it makes me feel good all together. But I get so much satisfaction out of raising a vegetable garden. I don't think you save any money, but it is the satisfaction knowing that I can take care of myself. I would survive in this world if there was a horrible catastrophe in the world. I would be able to make it if anyone would because I know where to go, I could live in nature.

J: Yeah, I laughed because I always say to my husband, “Well, if it gets bad, all we need is gas to get to my parents.”

[Laughter]

J: So we're coming! Have a big enough garden for us.

[Laughter]

W: Yeah, can, can.

J: (Laughs) Well, so tell us about growing up what you like to do as a kid. I think about how I used to play as a kid and how you used to play as a kid. You would go down across the road where your parents lived and build little forts, and, you know, just talk about how you used to play. You had your horse, I just feel sad sometimes that that kind of play seems to be gone these days, so just remind us of what it could have been… it could be (Laughs) if we tried.

W: Oh, we were outside all summer, we were not in the house. We ate our 3 meals and we were gone, we did our chores, we had a lot of neighbors and played with kids. We were riding horses or bicycles. We would ride 4 miles around the section. Bicycles, horses, whatever; we had a buggy. We went and made forts in the haymow. We… we learned a lot and we learned how to relate to other people, give and take with all these kids that we played with. We learned how to work because we did have chores and we had to work; that was just part of our day every day. And I feel like a lot of kids are missing so much by being in a house all the time, and we were just kicked out. And I did that with you, Jen; “You guys, get outside.” If you were fighting, “Get out!” and pretty soon, you’d all be playing and you'd be having a great time, you'd invent something. No phones, you didn't watch TV, I'll let you watch a little in the morning and then you were gone, you were playing, doing work. So I think kids are missing out in that way.

J: So you mentioned work, what are your top 2 or 3 values, your most important values that you wanted your kids to learn?

W: Well, I think I didn't really think about family, it's just that we were… that was just part of it. This is your family and that's the way it is. Your family, you're stuck with them and you get along the best you can. And family would be my top priority, more so when you guys were young. Since you're grown, I try to stay out of your business as much as I can because that is your responsibility. And I find I worry too much and I can't do anything about it as a grandma. So I do try to stay out. I know you might disagree, Jen, but I…

J: No, no, no, I'm laughing because everyone knows it's my kids that you would get worried about. (Laughs)

W: I worry about them, but anyway, they… I hope I didn't force faith on you, but I took you to church. I don't talk about faith a lot, it's a private thing to me, but faith is very, very important in a higher being God. I don't care where your faith takes you, but I think you have a faith in a all being, and of course hard work. Work was right up there, the most important. Well, that… my husband is… Dennis, your dad is… he would come in and say, “They’re not out of bed yet at 7 o'clock?”…

J: (Laughs)

W: … and say, “Get them up! They need to get out of bed!” You guys didn't sleep in the summer when you were young, most of you just got up, you got into that habit.

J: Mm-hmm.

W: But that's how it was. If you can't work, your life is going to be really bad, you're going to have a lot of problems. And if you can work and enjoy it, well, even if you don't make a lot of money, there's a satisfaction from doing a job and doing it well. And that's very important to both my husband and I, so…

J: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

W: And you kids all know how to work; you work, you know how to do it. That's very important to me.

J: Yeah. And what kind of work did we all do as a family when we were all growing up? You know, just list some of the things we would do.

W: We did everything together. You guys had to go out and help in the yard, we did hogs. Jen, you were excellent. When you were 8, you were taking care of Jeff when I'd go out and have a chore. You’d cook meals, you were… I mean, you were a lifesaver. You did so much work. Yeah, we did hogs together. We painted the fence. You guys all had to help with everything that was done. We… we pretty much… everybody was in a family and you all helped with whatever needs to be done. I… that's kind of how we did it.

J: Yeah.

W: That's how I was raised though.

J: Yeah. Well, so one time, I remember some town friends came out, I'm thinking of Mary and Nathan and Tim (Laughs), and my brother Josh who's 18 months younger than me, he and I took them in to the hog lot and we kind of pretty much soaked ourselves in manure. And do you remember (Laughs) Mary's response when you put in your response?

W: What'd she say?

J: Well, you were just really embarrassed.

[Laughter]

J: She took them home right away, she was mad.

[Laughter]

W: Oh well, it washed off and look how healthy you are.

J: Yeah, it's true. I wonder sometimes, I notice that my friends who have their kids washing their hands all the time, their kids are sick all the time. And the friends who don't do all the hand-washing have the healthiest kids; so I think there's something to that.

W: I do, too, oh absolutely.

J: Yeah.

W: Yeah, just like peanut butter, I get so upset with that, you know? Now, everybody, we couldn't even take peanut butter cookies to school, well, they couldn't now. We could when you kids were a little, no one was allergic to peanuts. Then it got so… “Oh, no peanut butter cookies at school,” everything was shut down, terrible allergies. Now, they are say… nutritionists say that, “That was a mistake, feed your kid peanut butter as soon as you can.” Those allergies all came about because they were not exposed to peanuts. I just think, “Ah!” and it's the same way with the germs, everything. You build up immunity to everything if you're exposed.

J: Yeah.

W: So that’s…

J: Yeah. Well, so now that you're retired from farming, what do you like to do for fun in your free time, when you're not still working? Because I know you still work a lot. (Laughs)

W: But it isn't work to me. Well, work is my hobby, I love it. I love the satisfaction of going out and getting a flower bed all cleaned up and beautiful and we can sit on the deck and, “Oh, wow!” we just… we like that feeling of finishing a job.

J: Mm-hmm.

W: It isn't work to me. Gardening outside, mowing, quilting, redoing furniture, creating is very important to me.

J: Mm-hmm.

W: That's about it. I don't read, I read before bed, otherwise, I don't have a lot of hobbies.

J: Mm-hmm. Well, but you're super social, you're probably one of the most extroverted people I've ever met. So being out there in a rural area, when and we are you interacting with people and how often?

W: Oh, I go to exercise every day and see my friends and we all chit chat. And when you go to the grocery store, you always run into someone you visit with a little bit. You know the store clerk, you've known her forever. You stop at the Casey's and get a cup of coffee, you see several people. Oh, I stop in and see elderly friends. Oh, I have a friend that quilts and she's just… can do anything, and like she just loves it when I stop and see all the projects she's working on. Just things like that, I stop and see people I haven't seen. We just have good business wherever you go. You run into someone, you know them and you have a good visit and it's fun.

J: Yeah, yeah, that's awesome. Do you have any time-saving tips? What helps you save time if you need to hurry or what helps you save time or used to when you were busier with kids and stuff?

W: Oh, save time. Well, it doesn't really save time, but it does in a way; it keeps your whole day going better. I say don't go to bed with a dirty kitchen. You clean the counters, wipe them off, put away everything, you get up in the morning and it is so organized and you feel good. You don't have to look at a bunch of slop on the cupboard. Your table’s wiped off, you can feed your kids, get everything done, clean it up before you go somewhere. And I guess it does save time because you are in a better frame of mind, you feel good about starting something because everything's fresh, clean, and it doesn't take long if you just make that rule. Before you go to bed, the counters are wiped off, the dishes have put away, things are picked up. I don't know, for me, I just don't like a lot of clutter. For other people, may… it's not that important, but for me, it helps me get going better, you know?

J: Well, going back a little bit, I believe my perception is that me and Josh and Jeff, were not quite like other kids. So what's your take on our energy levels and all the… you know, tell a few stories of some of the problems we got into as kids that weren't like other kids. (Laughs)

W: I didn't think of it as being not like other kids; I didn't think of it at the time. You had a lot of steam, you we're just busy like you were in fast motion; da-da-da-da. One time, I looked out to see you and Josh, check on you, you'd been out playing, and there you had our 4-wheeler hooked up to a little red wagon with a 20-foot rope. And Josh was sitting in the wagon and would get in that wagon and then you would tear off in the four wheeler and he would tip up and drag, and then you would just get off him laughs and slap your leg. And I thought it was so funny, I had to take some movies before we went out and, “Don't do that! Get off that 4-wheeler!” but we thought it was funny, we still got a laugh, and just things like that.

J: (Laughs)

W: But I think you've all grown out of that and I think that you all grab hold of… I think it's a good thing. I don't care if it caused me a lot of pain, you guys have all got a lot of steam. You… you are in motion, you work, you accomplish things, and you like it. I think you like work as much as I do. It is something we gave you is a love of working and finishing something. I… I think it's a good thing; you've got a lot of pep. You don't sit around on the couch.

J: Yeah (Laughs). Okay, I'll hold out hope that all my kids’ pep (which I think they got the same thing) is going to pay off one day.

W: Yeah, if they like to work, they'll use it that way.

J: I don't know they like to work, but they have energy. (Laughs)

W: Oh yeah.

J: Yeah.

W: They say 90% of the things you worry about do not happen if you just pass it over.

J: True.

W: It’ll all work out.

J: Yeah, yeah. Well, tell us a time when you followed your intuition or gut instinct or God, whatever you want to call it, and you just did something that didn't make sense but it felt right to you.

W: I have those moments and I think of them at the time. And sometimes I write them in a book, but then later, I can't tell you what they are unless I go look at my little book. So I can't tell you any specific moment, but I guess that…

J: Oh, that’s fine.

W: Josh was sick one time and I didn't get petrified. I would cry, he was very sick, could have not walked again, but I didn't let that overwhelm me. And it all turned out and the doctor said… we asked, “Why is he coming out of this?” they didn't know. He said, “Sometimes, we just have to thank God,” and he picked Josh up and cried and just held him. He could not believe that he had come out of this, but I guess I had never let myself get real worried because I couldn't do anything about it. And maybe I was just duh, dumb, and didn't take it as seriously as I should have, but it did all work out; thank God, yeah.

J: Yeah. So he had encephalitis and meningitis at the same time, is that right?

W: That's right.

J: Oh, that's insane, yeah. And the doctor picked him up and cried that he was better?

W: Yeah, picked him up in the house, held him and cried, and he said, “Sometimes, we just have to thank God.” He loved Josh because he never complained, he was a great kid, always happy, he tried to make the best of it. And he was 3 years old and he was just… had such a great attitude for that age. He lost a third of his body weight in 2 weeks, he was just becoming bones, could not walk, it was just a sad, sad thing and there was nothing anyone could do.

J: Really?

W: Yeah.

J: And that was the encephalitis and meningitis in his brain or…?

W: Right, right.

J: I can't believe he was conscious even of that was…

W: Oh, yeah, the whole time, the whole time. And then Iowa City and they did lots and lots of blood work and testing and he just came out of it.

J: Yeah.

W: It was just like a miracle; it really was.

J: Yeah. Well, I know another weird thing happened with Jeff who's 7 years younger than me, he got a needle into his eye. Tell that story.

W: Oh, that was a… we were very lax in our safety, but we never had worn safety glasses. Well, they had this thing called a slap shot and you would vaccinate sows. And sometimes, it's hard to vaccinate them in a big pen, they're moving, moving. So it was a needle on a long tube and you just slapped it into their shoulder and then pushed on the syringe and you’d let it pull out as they moved. And our son would mark the sow when my husband gave them a shot and that pulled out of the sow hard and came back and hit him in the eye. And he didn't know it. He came in the house and he said, “I hurt my eye,” and I said, “Did that thing hit you?”

“No, it didn't hit me in the eye.” And he wanted to go to the fair so bad, so I think that's why he said it. He took a shower, I took him to the fair, and he called an hour later and said, “Come get me, it hurts so bad!” and then we went to the hospital and had to go to Iowa City and they stitched his eye. And they were worried about infections because of the needle being on sows and the vaccinations that were in it, the medication. And he came out of it and his eye is just fine. Yeah, that was a miracle too.

J: Because you were ready to donate part of your eye or something, right, if you could?

W: I would have, but it never got to that point.

J: Yeah, yeah.

W: It just… they stitched it and pumped antibiotics through him and he's never had any trouble. You know, they said he couldn't use it at a later date, but what is he 36, Jen, and he's fine, yeah.

J: Yeah.

W: He’s doing good.

J: Yeah. Well, another memory I have of a low point is when you had a hog house burned down twice, right?

W: Gosh, I can't even remember.

J: Or was it just once?

W: I think once, yeah.

J: Okay. Well, as a child, I remember this. I slept right above the front door and I heard pounding and then I heard you and dad shouting. And I look out the window… and the dog had been barking below the window, and yeah, it turned out our hog house was on fire. And so I had to just stay in the house, but I would listen outside the door and hoping you and dad weren’t burning up in this fire because you're trying to save all the pigs. Do you remember that?

W: Yeah, yes. And it was a sow that knocked the heat lamp down. Well, before they have their babies, they get riled up and goofy and she knocked it down, started a fire. And we got all the pigs out and I think all the sows died but 1. But yeah, that stuff just happens.

J: It didn't devastate you a little bit?

W: Oh, it… well, I think anybody that has any kind of fire or storm damage, it is just like whoa, a real low. Even if, you know, “Everything's going to be alright, we've got insurance,” it's just a wow, it really brings you down.

J: Yeah.

W: It just does. And that's why I feel sorry for people that… like that storm out in Nebraska, I feel so sorry for them because, boy, they are all bummed bad; you just know they are.

J: Mm-hmm.

W: So, yeah.

J: Yeah.

W: But that's a feeling you get over, you know?

J: Right, right.

W: 6 months later, you get…

J: You’re fine.

W: … your foot down.

J: Yeah. Well, let's have a quick break for our sponsor and then we'll come back and talk about your favorite things.

Alright, welcome back. Before we talk about the favorite things, I want to ask you how do you try to make the world a better place?

W: Oh, I don't know if I have an impact on the world. I mean, maybe one person I've been nice to will, oh, go through the world and change it, but I don't have any great impact on the world. I'm not going to come up with some theory or…

J: Well, okay, let me reword it, how are you making some people's lives better (Laughs)? I remember…

W: Oh.

J: … growing up, we had neighbors who essentially had a dirt floor, it was 3 siblings that grew old together and just stayed in their parents homes, the Van Eaton's and you would take us there to get eggs. And I'm not sure you needed their eggs as much as you were trying to be nice to them and teach us how some other people lived.

W: Yeah, they were great people though, weren't they? They just had hung on to how they grew up, they didn't want to let that go. And they were honest people, they were hard-working, they were good people. And I guess the way I impact people is a smile, a friendly word and an uplifting comment, a positive thing, that's… I'm not changing the world, but I may be changing someone's life for a few days, you know?

J: Exactly.

W: Yeah.

J: Yeah.

W: It's a small step but it is something.

J: Yeah. And what is your favorite book or your current favorite book?

W: I can't remember the names of any of them now but (Laughs), I forgot. But, oh, ‘A Part-Time Indian Boy’, I thought that was a great book. It got into so many feelings of this poor Indian boy and how he lived. My all-time favorite I think… I should go back and read it my mind might have changed, but I read it probably 30 years ago, it was called ‘Christie’ and it was a teacher in the Appalachian Mountains and how she impacted so many people's lives, and…

J: Oh yeah, I think you had me read that; it seems familiar.

W: Yeah, it was a good book. She was a… just a wonderful good-hearted person and fell in love with… wasn't it the doctor and he loved her so, he didn't want to live in this world without her.

J: Mm-hmm.

W: It was a good book.

J: And what's your favorite easy meal?

W: Oh, easy meal, oh, probably eggs, scrambled eggs. Yeah, we have scrambled eggs a lot.

J: Yeah.

W: Scrambled eggs, a little cheese, easy, does the job.

J:Yeah. And your favorite kitchen gadget.

W: Oh, that with no question is (oh, what is it?) Pampered Chef, that meat chopper for hamburger made right, a casserole, that…

J: Yeah.

W: I think it has… didn't I get you one…

J: Yeah, I use it.

W: … for Christmas?

J: Yeah.

W: I love that thing, it's wonderful.

J: Mm-hmm.

W: Oh, a potato masher.

J: Oh yeah.

W: (Laughs) They just they just saved this in the drawer to clog up things. I never use it.

J: Yeah, I know.

W: I don't know why; throw that away.

J: (Laughs) Well, so what's your favorite life hack, just a random tip that helps you with life?

W: I guess put a smile on your face and keep going, you know? Bad times, you’ll get through them, just… and you can't expect perfection. And whoever told us we were going to have a perfect life? It's not going to happen. Don't eat up drama and don't hang on to everything that people say. Don't let it take ahold of your mind, just kind of let it go. You don't have to listen to everything everyone says. Don't be dramatic, you know, don't look for drama in your life.

J: Yeah.

W: Matter of fact, take care of business, that's what I would try to do.

J: Yeah. So this isn't maybe an order, I know you have kind of notes for where we're going, but 2 things I think are unique that you taught Josh and Jeff and I; or at least me. The first one is you taught us not to give too much credit to what other people think, to just do what we think. Do you want to expand on that?

W: Yeah, you think I did. Well see, I don't know that I did, but I must have done it subconsciously.

J: No, you did. So when you were farming, you would wear that head scarf and I remember asking you once, “Well, don't you want to look fancier?” you said, “I don't care what they think, I'm working today,” and, you know, just little comments like that, you know, to teach us to just do what we think. And I think Josh and Jeff and I have a… maybe an abnormal level of confidence maybe because of that, we're not afraid to do our own thing and be our own person, you know?

W: Yeah. If you are doing the right thing, what would you care? If you feel in your heart, your soul that it's right, don't care. That… you listen to your own spirit or your own drum or you… you do what you think is right, as long as it's fair honest and you feel it's right, you do it and don't worry, yeah.

J: Yeah, yeah.

W: That’s what I would… I guess I did teach you that.

J: Yeah, but it's so easy for you that you don't recognize that it's unique; it's probably one of your superpowers.

W: Really.

J: Maybe, yeah. Another one is I've discovered a lot of women have shame and embarrassment around the topic of sex, and one time, I don't know what, if you were giving me a talk about it or whatever, but you said, “Sex is great. What else is there to do in a small town on a Saturday night?”

[Laughter]

J: You told me that in high school and I was like, “Ugh, thanks, mom,” but I did always remember it.

W: Yeah!

J: Any other advice on that topic?

W: Well, I guess, I don't know.

J: (Laughs) You’re feeling embarrassed.

W: Good sex does a lot for your mood.

J: Yeah.

W: It elevates you, you sleep good, it doesn't compare in your relationship, that would be the top way of showing your love or your commitment or, in my opinion, and in your dad's opinion.

J: Mm-hmm.

W: Maybe this is too much for a daughter, but that solidifies your commitment or I don't know how you say it but…

J: No, yeah.

W: It's great a part of marriage.

J: Yeah, it's something you enjoyed, and you didn't teach us that it was something we don't talk about or, you know, to be embarrassed, you know, I think you just gave us a healthy attitude about it. Some women I've talked to, their moms taught them that sex was a chore and they grew up with that thinking and went into their marriage with that thinking, and it really has hurt their relationships because if you think sex is a chore, well, that's not going to help anything, so…

W: Oh no. Sometimes I think it's a chore too.

[Laughter]

J: Oh, well then, never mind. (Laughs)

W: I’ve got other things to do. Darn!

J: Well, what does it mean for you to be a vibrant happy woman? What's your formula to be that? What's required for you to be a vibrant happy woman?

W: I don't see myself as a vibrant happy… well, I am happy, very happy. I think get your kids raised first of all, and I tell you, those are the best times of your life. When you have your kids raised, you don't have to worry, worry, worry and always be correcting, helping, you know, it is a great time when you get through that. Maybe some people, they have an empty nest and… but I think they put too much of their life into their kids and they weren't preparing themselves to let go of them. I mean, you raised them to be independent and I don't want to be in your life all the time and controlling and you have to come eat with me every Sunday and… no, you've got your life, I've got mine and we love to talk to each other and see each other, but you are not my total life anymore.

J: Mm-hmm.

W: I mean, you know, I love you but it's… I am enjoying my life, you know, that way.

J: Mm-hmm.

W: Why am I… I guess, I'm independent, I have good health, I enjoy what I do. And just like dad said, “If I couldn't work, what would I do? Why would I be here?”

J: Mm-hmm.

W: It's my life is to accomplish things and to fix things and have… maybe that's totally wrong, but that's how I am and that's all I'll be.

J: Mm-hmm.

W: …If I'm not really doing anything, I mean, I want to get in there and clean the house up and make them some rugs and food for their kids! I don't want to just… you know, I…

J: (Laughs)

W: I want action and results and…

J: Yeah.

W: … if I don't enjoy it, I don't want to do it.

J: Yeah, that's accurate, I like that. And what about a challenge to our listeners or maybe just a word of challenge to your posterity, your kids, your grandkids. Let's say someone's listening to this in 50 years, what would you want to say to them?

W: About my life or about their life or about work?

J: Just a challenge; advice, advice.

W: Mm, keep on keeping on, just… you're going to have troubles, keep working and you will get through it. And don't focus on that all the time, try to find a bright thing and keep working. Don't give up; I guess would be my advice. Don't give up, ever.

J: Mm-hmm, awesome, I love it. Well, thank you, I appreciate this.

W: You’re welcome.

J: I think your life has been amazing, and when you say you're not touching the world, well, I think you are.

W: Love you, Jen!

J: Love you too, thanks. Bye.

W: Goodbye.

J: So that's my mom, everyone. She has spunk and energy and confidence and so many great traits that she passed on that have benefit in my life. She taught us to work; there's no doubt about that. And it's true, I like to achieve things, and I have my parents to thank for that. Also, life on the farm was pretty sweet. Just like my mom had memories of growing up playing outside and she said, she threw us outside to play (Laughs), we played outside a lot. I have way more memories outside than I ever do in front of the TV. I mean, granted, I do remember watching ‘The A-team’ and ‘Little House on the Prairie’ (Laughs) and ‘The Waltons’, but I have so many memories of gardening and messing around with our pigs and picking up rocks and actually just playing. One time, my brothers and I found old fence posts and we dragged them back and forth and back and forth and they were heavy, and we built our own log cabin (Laughs). It wasn't very big, but we could all be in it. And then how sad it was when my mom found it and calmly said, “That's cool, but remember you have to put those back.” And we looked at the long distance back to where the fence posts actually belonged (Laughs), it's always more fun to build them to take apart. So anyway, I had a really great childhood and I'm really lucky that my parents provided such a great life for us growing up. Well, I am going to be back later this week with a Happy Bit sharing more stories from the farm and from just life in general, and it would be fun for me to reminisce. And also, I'm going to be back later next week with another episode. So until then, make it a vibrant and happy week, and keep on keeping on. Take care.