The Hartley Sentinel-The Everly/Royal News - Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties

From the very start you were taught,

Just what was needed from you,

To work with strong mind and body,

And of proper morale too,

You were taught that others will need you,

And thus, you must be there,

No matter the time or your skill level,

No matter if you were not prepared,

You were taught that to get a job done,

The first step was to merely ‘show up’,

Not late or on time, but early,

And ‘being there’ wasn’t enough,

In order to do a job right,

You needed to give it your all,

To think before doing and do the job well,

Dusting yourself off if you fall,

If things get hard, that’s OK,

Just use your skills and think what to do,

Most likely you’ll get the job done,

If you don’t give up and just see it through.

You were taught that family is everything,

That your faith is your foundation for life,

That many of the victories we relish,

Come after a moment or more of strife,

We know of all that you’ve been taught,

Because all that you’ve learned along the way,

You’ve graciously (or sometimes with some sternness),

Taught us by the example you paved,

That it’s impossible to win if you don’t try your best,

That life’s better when you give it your all,

That sometimes losing isn’t always defeat,

And yes, it’s okay to pass the ball,

That true friends will stick beside you,

And in order for you to be a true friend,

It’s just as important on the flipside,

For you to stick right beside them.

That morals and ethics are the cornerstone,

For a life well-lived and well-loved,

That judgement doesn’t matter from the outside world,

The only judgement that matters is from above.

That love can be shown in many forms,

It can be building a fence, feeding your herd, or an embrace,

Words and actions truly do matter,

So be aware of yours, no matter what you may face.

Dear dads, you really should know,

That we have seen the sweat on your brow,

We have seen your bodies take a beating,

We see how you fight through somehow,

We see how you sacrificed meal times,

For farming, work, or chores,

We have seen how you miss out on some of the fun,

Because to you, our needs were more important than yours,

We have seen how you silently give,

And give and then give even more,

Lord knows, we need to give you more praise,

For all that you’re doing or have done before,

To my dad, my grandpa, all fathers,

And to all father-figures alike,

Thank you for teaching us the fundamentals,

Of how to live a good and very blessed life.

S-N contributor Iesha Toft lives in Royal.