Our Rural Roots
All We Need Is Love
I always wonder what I will hear at school parent/teacher conferences. My children are, in general, smart and well-behaved ... but like their mother, they like to talk. We have had to have more than one conversation about how there are some things, such as the details of artificially inseminating a cow, that are not playground-appropriate conversation.
This year, however, it was not the recounting of one of my children's wild barnyard tales that took my breath away during the meeting. It was this comment made by one of my daughter's teachers:
"Your kids come to school to learn because they are loved at home. Some kids come to school to be loved."
The statement stopped me in my tracks. Weeks later, I was still thinking about it. What a perceptive teacher to see that need in her students and to act accordingly. What a difference this approach must make in her students' lives.
But, I can't help but wonder if there is a lesson for all of us in this sentiment? When we interact with others, is there a more important purpose than is outwardly apparent or commonly understood?
Can we flip the narrative and do a better job of showing someone they are loved and valued in ordinary situations, too? Is there a way to recast my reaction to the annoying person who will not get their truck out of the way at the only diesel pump at the gas station or the lady in line at the grocery store who insists on making everything more complicated than it should be?
What if we looked at everyone we see -- the kids at church, the employee at the feed store, the secretary at the doctor's office -- as someone yearning to be acknowledged or loved. In doing so, could we change their life and ours?
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-- Tiffany Dowell Lashmet juggles family, farming, writing, livestock and a career in ag law from the Texas Panhandle. Follow her blog at https://alwaysafarmkid.com/…, on Instagram alwaysafarmkid and on X @TiffDowell.
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