Good evening District 27. Have you ever wondered what to do with leftover campaign yard signs? Me neither. This past week I thought I would try something unusual by hanging some of my leftover yard signs in my blue spruce tree on the south side of my home. This spruce tree was planted in memory of my deceased father.
There is a little bit of history behind this spruce tree that now towers over my home here in Martin. In the late spring of 2005, my mom drove my Grandma Kathol to Martin for a weekend getaway, just the two of them. It would be my grandmother’s first and only time she would ever visit her grandson after graduating from high school. My dad was my grandmother’s oldest son and he had an excellent relationship with his mother. After our trip to Mount Rushmore, I picked up this spruce tree at the Walmart in Rapid City since it was on sale. I thought it was appropriate to plant this spruce tree in honor of him since we had a similar blue spruce growing on our farm located north of Yankton. You can see a photo of me and my grandmother with the small spruce tree still in its original nursery planter.
While growing up on the farm, the spruce tree got bigger and bigger, much like how my spruce tree is today. We would decorate it with Christmas lights and the traffic along the highway would see it all lit up from afar. This was a tradition that I have tried to carry on while living here in Martin. I decorate the tree in honor of my father who loved Christmas. There have been many times when I walk by that tree that I don’t think of him. He taught me a strong work ethic as well as passed on a deep faith in God by his example. I am certain that if my dad was alive today, he would be proud of me for running in this state senate race.
In the final photo, you will see the two women who have influenced my life the most: my grandmother and my mom. In my opinion, they are the epitome of what real empowered women look like. They were both passionate and hardworking. They took their call to serve in God’s vineyard seriously as a wife, mother, grandmother, godmother, and aunt. My grandmother would never miss a grandchild’s birthday and always sent us a birthday card when growing up. She did this religiously until she died in her early 90s. My mom likewise gave birth to 14 children, 10 of which survived to see the light of day. My dad has all four of my siblings named. I look forward to meeting them someday. My mom and grandmother were supportive of their husbands and both worked long hours providing for their families. My Grandma took a liking to my mom and taught her many life skills. Even in times of distress, both my mom and grandmother stood by their husbands as they watched them take their final breath.
I always say that my mother is a living saint walking amongst us. If she does not get to heaven, what does that say about the rest of us? This could be true for my grandmother as well. My grandmother was married at the age of twenty-two and my mother was married at the young age of eighteen. Both women constantly gave of themselves and showed us kids what true self-sacrifice looked like. In my opinion, both my mom and my deceased grandmother embody the virtues of what it means to be a woman: caring, loving, compassionate, humble, persistent, generous, and hospitable.
I am certain my mom would have never imagined losing her husband at a relatively young age, nor did she dream of having this many children. It was all part of God’s plan and that is what makes her as well as my grandmother both special. Rarely, did I hear them complain. Both of these women learned to cope with the men in their lives who could be very stubborn at times, but yet, they stood by their vows for rich or for poor, in sickness and in health, until death do thy part. As this political campaign quickly comes to a close, know that like the two women in my life who embody what it means to lead a virtuous life, I too, will treat the constituents of this district with these same shared virtues. God bless.
Top Left: Campaign signs hanging in my memory tree in honor of my deceased father. Photo taken 10/28/2024.
Top Right: My grandmother and I by the spruce tree to be planted in honor of my deceased father. Photo taken in late spring 2005.
Bottom Left: Spruce tree planted by my dad on the farm as seen on the last day before my mom moved to town.
Bottom Right: Grandma Kathol, my mom, and I in the Black Hills of South Dakota (Late Spring 2005).
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