Mom married a farmer. Dad soon learned the type of girl he’d married. 

Not long after their wedding, Dad became very sick. The irrigation still had to be changed and the water was running hard–two and half feet over the weir. There was no one else to do it. So Mom went. 

When she got to the pickup she discovered it had a flat tire. She was determined not to bother Dad because he was so sick so she changed the tire herself. That was only the beginning. 

When she reached the field, she found a washout in the ditch. Water was pouring through the breach doing serious damage to the field. With so much water pushing through the system, repairing the ditch would be an enormously difficult task, especially alone. She grabbed a shovel and went to work. With sheer determination, wits, and ingenuity she repaired the ditch and restored control of the irrigation. Alone. Sixteen years old. Newly married. A farmer’s wife.

Dad married a strong woman. He learned that early.