A Farmer First of All

My dad bent steel with mathematical precision for the amusement park rides at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. That was his full-time employment, yet I tended to think of him as a farmer. While I never went into the steel factory, I could see him daily working in the fields or barn of our small farm, feeding the cattle, harvesting the crops.

Six miles from our farm was the Sorrowful Mother Shrine in Bellevue, Ohio. Our family often went there for Mass or devotions. When walking through the woods to pray the rosary, I would see the Stations of the Cross and an occasional statue. Having moved from home over 50 years ago, I see several additions to the Shrine’s devotional sites. One that I find most fitting is the addition of St. Isidore and his wife Maria. The shrine was designed with the rustic look of a barn, complete with some farm tools. Simple farmers have a place in the roll call of the saints. The saying “Close to the sod, close to God” apparently is true. Certainly, it was true for my dad.