Remembering Dad: An Inspirational Story

This farmer in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley is doing the kind of work the author’s dad always loved best. Photography by Pat and Chuck Blackley.

Story by Dale Bentz
Wellsville, Pennsylvania

Editor’s note: Have you ever noticed how eloquent country folks can be delivering a eulogy? No highfalutin language. Just plain-spoken words that come from the heart as they share their sentiments at the funeral of a loved one. Dale Bentz wrote such a memorial after the passing of his dad, Laverne, a couple years ago. Laverne had been a dairy and beef farmer for over 50 years, and here’s how his son chose to eulogize him:
Well, Dad, it rained Monday afternoon. It was a nice rain—a little windy—but it didn’t put the wheat down. On Tuesday morning, Mother checked the rain gauge and said it measured 1-1/2 inches.
Did you put water in her rain gauge again to fool her? I only had 1/2 inch at my house—I know how you like to play tricks on her.
I mowed the lawn yesterday afternoon. I think we finally got the bugs worked out of the Cub. It ran great.
Had Time to Think
While I was mowing, I had time to think about all of the great times we’ve shared over the past 50 years. You taught me the value of hard work, and how to enjoy it. You never told me how to do anything, but you showed me how to do everything…like the first time you started me disking on Smith’s Hill. I think I was only 9 years old, and boy, did you make me feel special.
I can remember standing on the tractor drawbar day after day, watching your every move as you masterfully plowed acre after acre. Then came the moment when you said it was my turn to get on the seat. What a day that was. Or the first time I mowed hay with the haybine.
I remember very well that spring when you told me it was time for me to start planting corn. I said I didn’t think I would ever be able to plant straight rows like you. You assured me that you had confidence in me, and then showed me the tricks to your trademark straight rows. I was proud to carry on that Bentz tradition. You were the best teacher a son could ask for.
I didn’t know it then, but you were also teaching me lessons about life—like being honest and fair, and “Your word means everything.” Oh, and, “Don’t ask anyone else to do something that you wouldn’t do yourself,” and “Get along with others by treating them the way you would like to be treated by them.”
We had a lot of fun, too. Dad, do you remember that day on my first hunting trip? Wow—what a day! You got a four-point buck, Dick Diller bagged a six pointer, and I—a little 13-year-old boy—got an eight-point buck. We got back from Elk County by suppertime that same day, and Mother was scared when she saw us back so soon. She thought someone was hurt or sick. Was she surprised!
Dad, I am so glad I was able to be part of your life. I always respected the way you were willing to try new ideas, or to modernize the buildings and equipment. But you taught me to never forget what got us there—good hard work.
Home to the Farm
I never told you this, but when you were very sick and in the nursing home, you asked me when I was going to plant soybeans. I told you I was waiting for you to get home to get the ground ready. You said you didn’t know if you’d ever get home, and even if you did, you
didn’t believe you would ever be able to run a tractor again.
When I got home that day, I went out to the shop and asked God to make you well enough to get home, and strong enough to run the tractor and help me get those beans planted. About a week later, we brought you home…and a week or so after that, my prayer request was granted when you asked me to get the tractor and disk ready for you.
For the next 4 days, you disked and I planted. You also started mowing the lawn again, your favorite job, and running errands for me with Mother.
I’ll never forget the 2005 planting season—the year God let my dad, my hero and best friend, make one more round.

The crazy Dog

                                                                                                     

Funny motivational story 

                         The crazy Dog

Once a wealthy man decided to go on a safari in Africa. He took his faithful pet Dachshund dog along for company. 
One day, the Dachshund starts chasing the butterflies and before long the Dachshund discovers that he is lost. Wandering about, he notices a leopard heading rapidly in his direction with the obvious intention of having lunch.
The Dachshund thinks, "I'm in deep trouble now! Then he noticed some bones on the ground close by and immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the leopard is about to leap, the Dachshund exclaims loudly, "Boy, that was one delicious leopard. I wonder if there are any more around here."
Hearing this, the leopard halts his attack in mid-stride, as a look of terror comes over him, and slinks away into the trees. "Whew," says the leopard. "That was close. That Dachshund! Nearly had me."
Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard. So, off he goes. But the Dachshund sees him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figures that something must be up.
The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard. The leopard is furious at being made a fool of and says, "Here monkey, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine."
Now the Dachshund sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks "What am I going to do now?" But instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet... and just when they get close enough to hear, 
the Dachshund says........ ......... .....
"Where's that damn monkey? I sent him off half an hour ago to bring me another leopard."

Moral: It doesn't matter what cards you hold but how you play them!

Funny motivational story 

                         The crazy Dog




Once a wealthy man decided to go on a safari in Africa. He took his faithful pet Dachshund dog along for company. 
One day, the Dachshund starts chasing the butterflies and before long the Dachshund discovers that he is lost. Wandering about, he notices a leopard heading rapidly in his direction with the obvious intention of having lunch.
The Dachshund thinks, "I'm in deep trouble now! Then he noticed some bones on the ground close by and immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the leopard is about to leap, the Dachshund exclaims loudly, "Boy, that was one delicious leopard. I wonder if there are any more around here."
Hearing this, the leopard halts his attack in mid-stride, as a look of terror comes over him, and slinks away into the trees. "Whew," says the leopard. "That was close. That Dachshund! Nearly had me."
Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard. So, off he goes. But the Dachshund sees him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figures that something must be up.
The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard. The leopard is furious at being made a fool of and says, "Here monkey, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine."
Now the Dachshund sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks "What am I going to do now?" But instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet... and just when they get close enough to hear, 
the Dachshund says........ ......... .....
"Where's that damn monkey? I sent him off half an hour ago to bring me another leopard."

Moral: It doesn't matter what cards you hold but how you play them!

A new CEO wanted

    A new CEO wanted 

NEW CEO

Once a chairmen was confused in selecting his company`s new CEO as every contender was equally experienced and had near to same accomplishments.They all were young energetic and well qualified. To chose the best among them, he decided to take a test. One day he called every one of them at his home.And took them on tour of his opulent mansion. In the back of the property, the Chairmen has the largest swimming pool any of them has ever seen.

The huge pool, however, was filled with hungry alligators, with lots of sharp nails and wires in it.

The Chairmen said to his executives "I think an executive should be measured by courage. Courage is what made me Rich. So this is my challenge to each of you: if anyone has enough courage to dive into the pool, swim through those alligators, and make it to the other side, I will give that person anything they desire. My job, my money, my house, anything!"

Everyone laughs at the outrageous offer and proceeds to follow the Chairmen on the tour of the estate. Suddenly, they hear a loud splash. Everyone turns around and sees the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) in the pool, swimming for his life. He dodges the alligators left and right and makes it to the edge of the pool with seconds to spare.He pulls himself out just as a huge alligator snaps at his shoes.His shirt was torn, pant had a mark of alligator`s tooth.

The flabbergasted Chairman approached the CFO and says, "You are amazing. I've never seen anything like it in my life. You are brave beyond measure and anything I own is yours. Tell me what I can do for you.

The CFO, panting for breath, looks up and yelled, "leave everything...Just  tell me who the hell pushed me in the pool!"

Teacher Attitude

Ever thought how important teacher attitude is? The importance of motivation skills of a teacher are so valuable!
I'm sure we all have had those teachers who weren't exactly careful with their words and might have hurt our feelings in a way that we still remember after many years. And then there are those who encouraged us and saw the good in us - those are the teachers we remember with love for the rest of our lives.

Here is a short story of such a teacher.

The truck driver was enjoying his meal at a local diner and happened to look towards the door when it opened. That was probably the only reason he ever paid attention to the old lady who came in. She was quite ordinary looking, a little bent, wisps of white hair had escaped from under her hat. She had good clean clothes, a bit old fashioned perhaps, but that was sort of expected from an old lady.
He bit into his hamburger and expected the lady to disappear into one of the booths quietly.
But not this old lady.
There was the sound of running steps and the owner and all the waiters hurried from behind the counter to meet the old lady.
- Mrs Cosby! They shouted, - How pleased we are to meet you!
The old lady smiled and greeted them all.
- Susan, Bob, Alyssa, Carmen… Good to see you all. How have you been? Life has been good to you?
- Very good, indeed, Mrs Cosby! Bob, the owner said, - Now, let me take your coat.
Very carefully he took the old lady's coat. The truck driver watched with interest. He had never seen a diner owner help anyone out of their coat before. And he had been driving across the country for quite a few years to say the least.
- And I shall bring you a little soup first. Then you can decide what it is you wish to eat this time, Alyssa smiled and returned to the kitchen.
- But at first I shall tidy up your table! Susan said.
This she did - she wiped the table clean and out of nowhere appeared a bright white, clean table cloth. Carmen seemed to pull a vase with a yellow rose from her pocket.
- Now you sit down and make yourself comfortable, Mrs Cosby! Bob helped her to sit down, - There… Now, what would you like to drink? Water with a touch of lemon?
When Bob passed his table, the truck driver could not resist.
- Excuse me…
- Yes? Would you like more coffee? Bob asked.
- No, thank you, maybe later. I was just wondering… What is so special about the old lady over there?
- Teacher attitude, Bob smiled.
- Teacher attitude? The truck driver did not believe his ears.
- I'll explain soon if you wait, Bob said.
And out of sheer curiosity the truck driver waited, watching in awe how the waiters did everything in their power to make the old lady really enjoy her meal. And when she was finished, Bob refused to take any payment from her. He escorted her to the door and stood there, waving as long as it took for her to reach the corner and turn out of sight.
Then he turned, saw the truck driver and walked to him.
- Now, a story about teacher attitude and the importance of motivation, he said and sat down.
- Was this Mrs Cosby your teacher then?
- Yes, the best one. Though we probably did not make it very easy for her at first… You know how every school seems to have a class that everyone thinks will never graduate? Trouble makers, that's what we were.
Bob smiled.
- None of our teachers stayed for long. And so, one morning, the door to the class room opened and a new teacher walked in, yet again. Mrs Cosby. We looked at her and gave her maybe a week. She looked too soft to ever handle us. And we sure gave her a hard time. But she never lost her temper, no matter what we did. And then came the last day of the first month she had been our teacher. That was the day she showed the teacher attitude she became so famous for.
- Her teacher attitude? What was so special about her teacher attitude?
- She opened her briefcase and took out a bunch of papers. We feared the worst - a test. But oh no, it was something that totally surprised us.
- Well what was it? The truck driver asked.
- Mrs Cosby asked each one of us to come to the front of the class, one by one, and gave us each a paper. In each paper she had written what the student in question had been good at during the last month.
The truck driver looked at Bob,
- She showed her teacher attitude by giving you a paper that told you what you were good at? I'm sorry, I don't get it.
- If you think about it, you'll get it alright. You see no one had ever believed in us. No one ever liked us. We were constantly told how good-for-nothing we were. And we had started to believe it ourselves. The teacher attitude we had met with before didn't encourage us to believe in ourselves.
And here, suddenly, was someone who had been observing us closely for a month. And a month when we made things as difficult for her as we could, mind you. And yet she could find something positive to say about each and every one of us.
Once she had delivered the papers, she continued with her teaching and for the first time we forgot to make her life miserable.
Someone called Bob and, he excused and left to serve a customer. After a while he returned and continued with his story.
- Mrs Cosby did this every month from then on. Each month we got a paper that emphasized our strengths, what we had been good at. I thought no one would ever see anything good about me - I was lousy at school. But she commented on my courage, how punctual I was, how good to settle arguments if I so wanted. And you know what happens when someone keeps telling you what you are good at?
The truck driver shook his head.
- Well, you begin to act as if that was true. You start to learn more to be even better, to prove them right.
And so with her positive teacher attitude transformed our class. We did not want to hurt her feelings anymore. We actually started to study. Other students and teachers could not understand what had happened.
And then came the day of our graduation. Yes, we actually graduated. Mrs Cosby hugged each and every one of us, and told us with tears in her eyes how proud she was of us.
- My dear children, she said to us, - I knew you could make it. I knew how good you were, but it seems you did not know it yourself. Too long you had listened and believed the words of others who thought you were hopeless. And yet, here you are, and you have proved them wrong. This must be the proudest day of my life!
Then she handed each one of us a book. All the encouraging letter through the years were there, in hard covers.
- I want you each to keep this book and if ever during your life you feel unworthy, open this and read how good you are. You can be anything you want to be as long as you believe in yourself. Promise me you'll remember that!
Bob sighed.
- And we did. She turned a bunch of misfits into people who could achieve great things - because now we believed in ourselves. We went on to fulfil our dreams. Mine was to own a diner and here I am, instead of ruining my life with alcohol and drugs - and I was already going that way when Mrs Cosby appeared. So maybe now you understand why that old lady deserves all the respect we can give her.
The truck driver nodded. Then he asked for his bill.
Bob went to get it and when he returned he saw the truck driver talking to his cell phone. Not wanting to disturb he stood at some distance.
- Honey? Hi, yes, it is me. You know I thought I would drive home tonight. Yes, I know, it is a long way, but I can make it. You think you might make that special lasagne of yours for me? Yes, I'd really like to have some. You know you should sell that lasagne, it is so good, better than anyone else's! What? Why do I say so? Well because I think so. Just wanted to let you know you are the best lasagne cook I have ever met! You will? Great, see you in the evening! Love you too!
Alyssa saw Bob smiling when he returned.
- Let me guess - another one for Mrs Cosby?
- Yep, Bob laughed.
Alyssa smiled and gave Bob a little kiss on the cheek on her way to pour more coffee to a customer.
- You tell about Mrs Cosby to everyone on purpose, I am sure.
- Absolutely! That kind of teacher attitude deserves to be spread! And it works, every time. This truck driver just made his wife very happy by telling her what she was good at - making lasagne! Definitely one more point for Mrs Cosby!