Looking back, I’d have to say our biggest, most significant challenge was probably our first. In entering our lifelong commitment to each other, I felt it was important for us to be married first and then find a home together after.
My husband, on the other hand, felt it was more important to line up a house and then get married later. So to reach a compromise, we decided to do both at the same time.
Those who have been married or are in the process of getting married know planning a wedding isn’t easy. No matter the size of the celebration, there are a number of decisions to be made. The same goes for building or remodeling a house.
Our first house was to be an old farmhouse which was used as a rental home that severely lacked attention from both tenants and owners. However, we could see the potential it held.
Picture it: two kids, a dream and a bit of ignorance. We purchased the property knowing full well the house would be completely gutted and rebuilt, a project my husband and father-in-law would complete in their “spare time.”
Me, I just “helped” with making the decisions and pulling nails from the old studs as a way to relieve stress.
Yet 10 years later, the home that took some of our first blood, sweat and tears together has stood through so much. It has been the place we welcomed our three children, where I set up my daily office for a job I love, a home base for my husband’s construction company and then surrounded by the land we farm and the animals we raise.
Our centre point for the past 10 years has not only been our marriage but our first home as well.
I am also thinking of anniversaries because I recently attended the 25th anniversary celebration for PDPW, an organization founded in Wisconsin by several dairy producers to shape their destiny through educational programming to fit the needs of their changing dairy operations.
The organization’s first business conference had 38 people in attendance. This year, they welcomed nearly 2,000 people through the doors at the event in Madison, Wisconsin.
The week prior, I was at the Western Canadian Dairy Seminar (WCDS) in Red Deer, Alberta, where it was marking its 35th year. In its first year, 77 people attended.
Now recognized as one of the premier dairy conferences of its kind in the world, WCDS achieved a record attendance in 2017 with nearly 950 people in attendance.
The fact that each of these conferences has been held for a significant amount of time is certainly something to recognize and congratulate.
To know that countless people have put forth a tremendous amount of time and effort to plan educational programming that would attract dairy producers and allied industry to attend year after year is commendable.
What a wonderful achievement for each organization and something for which to be proud.
However, at each event, I was also impressed by something other than the significance of the anniversary. Instead, I noticed that when the attendees were asked who was there for their very first year, a large contingency rose to their feet.
The people who have attended year after year are those who brought each of these conferences to the present time, but to see so many first-timers gives confidence for the future of these events.
It is this group who will propel these events forward into the next 25 or 35 years or longer. These are the people who will keep these events going because every legacy starts and continues with a first. 
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Karen Lee
- Editor
- Progressive Dairyman
- Email Karen Lee
