At Todd's birthday party in 2021, Gloria presented us with this pillow made from a blanket he had as a child. She found he still had the blanket when she cleaned out his house and prepared it to be sold. . This is the thank you I sent to his mother following her gift.
Chuck and I
want to express our sincere appreciation for giving us the remembrance pillow
to hold deep within our hearts and arms.
When you gave it to us I recall you saying, “I thought you would want
something to remember Todd.” There isn’t
a day that goes by that we are not thinking about Todd. Remembering the man he
was; hard working, stubborn, dedicated to (those damn) cows and farming. That young kid, whom we first met at 16, responding
to our help wanted ad. We were looking
for someone to milk the cows – one milking, seven days a week. (When Chuck
decided to milk 3X a day). Chuck fondly
recalls how Todd walked into the barn while he was milking, picked up the barn scraper
and began pushing the manure out of the middle into the gutters, well before he
reached Chuck and ask him for the job. That simple task made Chuck think to
himself, “Wow, this kid likes to work!” and he asked Todd, “When can you
start?”
Our
relationship was a true partnership from the beginning. We shared life, love,
laughter, disagreements, hardships and a “few” drinks. We were so proud of the young
man you raised. He always gave 110
percent. Chuck and Todd pushed each
other to be superior dairy men – Todd held firm to his beliefs when wanting to
try something “new” with the cows, but in their partnership, there was always
respect and Todd genuinely appreciated Chuck’s mentoring. There couldn’t have
been a better trade-off when Todd didn’t hesitate asking Chuck to buy the herd
when we decided to quit dairy farming.
We had a
contract drawn up with the intent for Todd to remain on the farm for five
years. After the contract expired, we verbally renewed our agreement. It became a handshake deal. Todd had always been a part of our family
since he was that young kid at 16 and in the years that followed, our love and
respect for him continued to grow – he could stay as long as he wanted. We were equally proud of his farming awards
and honored he continued to make our home place a successful dairy farm.
We feel his
absence and miss his presence every day. If we quiet our souls long enough; we
can hear his laughter, the rev from his motorcycle, the prom truck coming up
the driveway…and speeding up as he leaves, “racing” our dog to the end of the
driveway—We think Todd’s smiling right now, knowing he won every time and how
much it irritated the dog! We can see
him saunter from the barn to the calf huts for their daily feeding and smell
the manure wafting off of his flannel shirts. We have visions of his tractor in the field
and his smile with those adoring, sweet dimples—though somewhat hidden by his shaggy
beard…when he would take the time to stop and talk after a long day on the
farm. A part of him will always be on
the farm and in our family’s hearts.
Our hope, is
one day, when you think about the farm and us; you don’t think of Todd and our
farm as the place where he died; but where he truly lived. We are forever grateful to you and God for
giving him this life.
Always in
our hearts,
Chuck and
Julie Hentges
