In a world of smartphones and iPads, the idea of a pen pal might be lost. My childhood included handwritten letters from friends from far away. That love of writing continued when I first dated my husband, nearly 24 years ago. Almost 500 miles separated us, and texting wasn’t a thing, so obviously neither was Facebook, Snapchat or even FaceTime. A pen and paper would have to do. Those letters are now stored away as a great keepsake.
Perhaps that is why when my children receive a handwritten note from a pen pal, my smile widens. This especially holds true because the kids’ pen pals are dairy farmers.
How my youngest son, Jacob’s dairy pen pal started was because Jacob got in trouble. Yes, you heard me correctly. Attending the National Jersey convention in Gettysburg, Pa., Jacob was on the junior bus, along with his siblings. His older brother was giving him a hard time and Jacob wasn’t having it. The rest of the details are a bit blurred, but the junior bus had to be pulled over to meet the adult bus that I was on. Jacob, who was very upset, had to join our bus and I was trying to quickly get Jacob over whatever had happened. I spotted a producer sporting a Golden State Warrior cap and sat Jacob next to him, stating, “How about you two talk sports.”
The rest is history. Jacob and California dairy producer, Mike Wickstrom, quickly forged a friendship over basketball and Jersey cows. The twosome have exchanged handwritten letters ever since.
My daughter Cassie also met a dairy producer who she began chatting with about six years ago—78-year-old Paul Chittenden from New York. The duo talk everything dairy—from field conditions to sires to herd reproduction. This past March, during her spring break, Cassie spent a week with Paul and his family, learning more about their dairy operation to help her figure out her future dairy career. I’m not sure who enjoyed their time more—Cassie or Paul.
While fewer letters are being written today, thanks to smartphones, both Jacob and Cassie still keep in touch with their dairy pen pals. I cannot express just how much I love this.
My word of advice is to learn to connect with others who are in the dairy industry—even if they milk cows in a different part of the country or their herd size differs from yours. If children can spark up a conversation, so can us adults.
