Who are we plowing for today?

In the early 1930’s, my grandpa Rock had just returned from a stint in Detroit, which was a favorable place to find employment in those unfavorable times.  He was home to help with the planting season and to visit family….maybe settle down with the money he’d saved.

After the first day of plowing was done, and the sun was going down, he got off the tractor and felt that his wallet was missing from his back pocket.  Panicked, he looked everywhere possible, to no avail.  It was dark and there was no way he was going to find it that night.

What’s worse is that the wallet contained ALL of the money he had saved in Detroit, around $2500 I believe, a sizable sum during the depression.

After a sleepless night, he woke up and went to go to work.  Upon arrival, his “boss”, who knew of the missing money, said “Well, Rock….who are we plowing for today?”

“I guess we should plow for Rock”, he responded.

And so all three jumped on a tractor and retraced, backwards, the plowing that they had done the previous day, with eyes searching for a wallet like the Coast Guard for a raft.  After a few hours and a lot of lost hope, my grandpa spotted the corner of his wallet sticking about an inch out of the ground.  Hopped down, grabbed it and they went on to complete as much of actual farming progress that could be completed for the rest of the day.

With that money, he went on to buy his own piece of land, and begin the building of what would become his personal “empire”….a life’s work that spanned over 70 years and a family that continues to thrive beyond his leaving us a little over a year ago, at the age of 94.

Instead of criticizing the failures of others, or questioning their judgement in hindsight (how could you carry that much money on a tractor???)…..

Take some time out to plow for the little guy every once in a while.  You might just set a great thing in motion.