In the summer I mow my grandpa’s pasture. I sit under the sun on the worn leather seat of a big blue Ford open-cab tractor, pulling the mower behind. I mow circle after circle until the pasture is done, then I move onto another. There’s not a whole lot of thought involved. The hardest part of the whole operation is setting the blade at the right height for the grass. One area of my grandpa’s pasture is terraced so the level of the ground changes pretty quickly. One time I wasn’t paying attention and the blade struck the ground, throwing dust everywhere. My dad saw it happen from his tractor and started yelling at me. He told me to get off the tractor and I did, but I forgot to take the tractor out of gear. My dad jumped off his tractor and yelled more. I quickly stepped on the clutch and the brake and put the tractor in neutral. I looked at my dad and saw that he was crying. At first I thought he was crying because I, his son, had done something so dumb, but I was only partially right.

He was crying because he was worried for my safety. He told me that one day I would be on my own and would have to pay attention and be responsible. I had known this, but never thought about it. One day I will have a family to look after, and to do that I will have to be aware of my surroundings. I realize now that my dad was only showing me how much he cares. Hopefully one day I will do the same. I also realized he doesn’t enjoy yelling at me, he only does it to get his point across.

After that day I started to pay more attention to my surroundings. Now I am more aware of a job as I’m doing it. Most important, I realize that my dad will not always be around. Thankfully, he is trying his best to teach me all he can so I will be okay when I get out on my own. It won’t always be easy, but my dad has given me the confidence that I can overcome any challenge I meet.