“The reason my great-great-grandparents came over here was for freedom and hope for their family. To start this generation and to give generational hope and freedom of living.

Some place like here.”

 – Deb Nyenhuis, today’s guest on The Storytellers Porch

Following the trend of last week’s episode with Dr. Mark Wright on The Storytellers Porch, Deb Nyenhuis and Jill talk today about life growing up on a farm. In a slight contrast to Dr. Wright’s childhood, who was a frequent visitor of his grandparent’s farm but didn’t live there, Deb lived her life on her parent’s farm in South Dakota until she went to college.

So much can be learned from life on a farm, as Deb and Jill discuss today. From a hard work ethic, to recovering from a huge financial hit (Deb’s father lost $70,000 on his farm in the ’70s!), to self-sustainability… while these stories may be decades or even centuries old, the stories told and the lessons learned are just as, and maybe even more, relevant today.

Perhaps Jill sums up these lessons best, with a reminder we all need:

“My collective impact today is to just hold onto hope, no matter what. Human beings are strong, and smart, and inventive, and innovative, and capable, and we will make it through whatever is next,

because we have hope and we have community.”

If you have a story about farming, ranching, growing up in rural America, or any thoughts from today’s show, we want to hear your story and help you share it! These stories are what bring us hope in difficult times. Get in touch with Jill at https://thestorytellersporch.com/apply/ or send us an email at thestorytellersporch@gmail.com.

Thank you joining us on The Storytellers Porch this week! Make sure you subscribe and follow us at https://thestorytellersporch.com/, https://podfollow.com/the-storytellers-porch, or on your favorite podcasting platform so you don’t miss a single story with us on the Porch. We’ll see you next time where we’ll be sharing more personal stories with collective impact. What drink will you bring?

Always drink responsibly, don’t drink and drive.

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