Terrell Whitley - Raising Daughters On A Farm

When I was young, our family lived on a farm. Not a big cattle ranch or anything. Just a small, country farm with a few cows, chickens, pigs and a horse.

My dad had four sisters and eight brothers. That’s right! Thirteen children! Several of his brothers and sisters lived in a tight little area around the “big” family farm.  There was always someone around. This was the type of neighborhood where doors weren’t locked, and you walked right in.

Anyway, living on this small farm, my dad had always wanted boys. Boys to play ball with. Boys to mend fences. Boys to feed cows. Boys to work. Unfortunately, he ended up with three girls. (Sorry, Dad.)

When we were very young, my mother tried to keep us in pretty dresses and lacey shoes. By the age of three, we were out of those things! It was barefoot and whatever she didn’t want ruined. We loved playing in dirt and mud puddles. Following the boys in our large extended family and learning how to do the “fun” things that boys get to do.

It wasn’t long before we learned that “fun” often turned into work. Girls or not, we did learn how to feed calves at 3 a.m.; feed and water chickens; run cows; run pigs; and generally make sure everything was fed and clean. Oh, and mending fences. Boy, did we ever learn how to mend fences, clean fence lines, stretch fence lines, and a whole lot of other “fencing” stuff!

Of course, there were a lot of fun things that we got to do that our prissy little friends wouldn’t dream of doing: ride dirt bikes, go-carts, horses, pigs. We had races in our own backyards. We’ve watched the births of cattle, kittens, dogs, and pigs.

He thought he wanted boys. In raising girls, he taught us to be so independent that each of us can literally build or work on almost anything. We don’t depend on anyone else to do what needs to be done. We just do it. And, every once in a while, we still get to slide in beside Dad on the couch and lay our heads on his shoulder.

He might have wanted boys, but he would never give up what he had with his girls. Thank you, Dad.