Prompt: Describe a personal figure in your life that helped shape your life, career, or the way you think about the world
I was eight years old; it was 1966 and I was standing in a pig pen on my neighbor’s farm holding a piglet’s legs, one under each arm wondering what was going on. My best friend Steve had just chased it, caught it, and helped me tuck one of its legs under each arm.
Then a big moment happened in my life. They say that you grow up fast working on a farm.
Well, not knowing what was happening, Steve’s farmer dad walked up to me holding this pig, reached up under the piglet to grab its testicles and cut them right off using an X-Acto knife with one quick swipe.
Steve started to explain to me why we were doing this, as he handed me another piglet that he just caught. I stood there for about an hour watching the pile of piglet testicles form at my feet as Steve would catch, hand to me, then his dad would cut and spray some form of purple disinfectant between the piglet’s legs. Within months, before going to slaughter – these piglets fattened up fast. I can still picture that day and hear the piglets’ mother screaming in the pig pen next to me each time a piglet was caught.
One day Steve and the five other kids were a bit excited about some form of special day. They didn’t let me in on it until they said it was time, and they all came outside giggling. We all sat down on wooden logs we used as sitting stools in the yard. Steve walked into the hen house and came out holding a chicken. He handed it to me and showed me how to hold the wings down so it wouldn’t get away.
Then it happened.
The other kids started screaming and laughing, mostly at me but also the joy that they got watching the whole ordeal.
You see, it was another X-Acto blade moment. Steve quickly pulled the knife from his pocket, opened it up, grabbed the chicken by the head and sliced its head right off with one swipe. Then he yelled at me to throw the chicken. Well, I am sure that you know the saying,
“Running around like a chicken with its head cut off.”
I grew up a bit on those particular days, and these types of learning moments happened for many years as I couldn’t wait to see my friend Steve and work on his farm every day. He is the figure who shaped my life, career, and the way that I think about the world. Steve was like a big brother to me while I was growing up in the 1960’s and 1970’s. He taught me everything about farming. How to drive tractors, plow, disc, seed, cultivate and harvest. I also learned to drive the farm truck and use many-a-farm implement.
What pedals that I couldn’t reach, Steve would cut some blocks of wood and tape them to the pedals with electrical tape. There were pigs, cows, horses, chickens, dogs, cats, and a pet fox to feed and water every day. There were slaughter days too, not just for pigs and chickens, but cows too.
To this day, I wish I could go back to farm days and live with my family, including grandkids, to teach them about work and life. Farming is a tough life, especially for the small family farm, but the learning experiences and joy are plentiful and life building. I lost touch with Steve after my dad wanted me to work on the golf course and high school was ending.
Steve and his family also moved when the barn burned to the ground one day with most of the farm equipment and the animals inside. It was devastating in many ways.
I was given a jump start in life by Steve and his tutelage. My Turf career would not have gone the way it has without this man being a large part of my life.
I lost touch with Steve after he was in our wedding party. I have searched many times for him on the internet, to no avail. At one point his sister and I were friends on Facebook. For a few years, once a year, she would ask me if I heard from him.
Steve, if you read this – THANKS for being that figure that helped shape my life, career, and the way that I think about the world!
-Mark S. Merrick, CGCS Retired
Introducing ‘Merrick Mondays’, a segment where we hear from Mark Merrick, our resident brand Ambassador, Chief ‘Cool” Officer, and general source of wisdom and secrets of the universe, to spotlight a dose of interview-style content, weekly.