November 24, 2020
Memories, the Extension Mission, and Thanks
Following my mom’s passing, I noticed that my parents organized in different manners as I went through their files. The things my dad seemed to take care of were extremely well organized. He organized things in a tidy fashion by specific subject, the person he was interacting with, and by date.
The information saved by my mom was organized more in my fashion. She would place them, more or less, under a general heading in piles in the filing cabinet, stuffed in manila envelopes, held in folders, or in whatever had contained the information when she first received it. She would often say (as I often do), “All of that stuff is in that filing cabinet right there” or “It’s in one of those storage totes over there.” She would be correct. It would just take a while to sort through all the other items in that file or container to find the right piece of information.
Most of the sentimental items, like my sisters’ and my report cards and other pieces of family history, were in one set of filing cabinets. The financial documents, thank goodness, were all contained in one specific filing cabinet. It was in the financial records that some pieces of family history that we never really talked too much about, if at all, started appearing. It soon dawned on me that these were not placed here by accident. These must have been very important to them, so they put them in with the financial information to make sure that my sister and I found them.
These important papers, pictures, articles, and items included, among other things, my dad’s separation papers and dog tags from the army, a newspaper article that explained how he was one of three at his trade school whose capstone projects had received top honors, and something called “The Jane Award for Leadership” that my mom received from Purdue University for her work with Extension Homemakers.
I know nothing about the Jane Award. I have asked a friend who happens to be a family and consumer science agent with Purdue University Extension, and she doesn’t either. I do not remember her receiving it, but it did trigger a memory that had been stored away in the recesses of my brain for quite some time.
I remembered a summer day when I would have been grade school age. The day must had been important because my dad took time off of work. He, my mom, and I got in the car. I am not sure why my sisters did not go. We were going up to West Lafayette and Purdue University. My mom was dressed to the nines. She was also uncharacteristically quiet and nervous on the trip.
My mom was going to a big Extension Homemakers event with hundreds of other people at Purdue University. My mom never got to go to a college, so that probably explained a lot of her nervousness. This was going to be her college experience. My dad explained to me she was going to the college for a day to learn things and then there would be a meeting. He and I dropped mom off at the Memorial Union and spent the day going to area museums, Fort Ouiatenon, and the Tippecanoe Battlegrounds.
When we picked mom up, she was back to being her very talkative and confident self. She talked about all that was taught by the professors. She agreed with some things they said outright, but she had to think more about other things she learned. She also talked about all the things she was going to start doing because of her training to improve our family’s lives. She talked for the entire two and a half hour trip back home. To say she appreciated and enjoyed her day of learning at the university would be understatements.
The creators of the 1914 Smith Lever Act knew there were people like my mom. People who would never go to college but who desired and needed the researched-based education that the Land Grant universities had to offer. They also knew that those who went to college needed to receive updated information and education regarding the latest research on the “practical” matters that impacted their lives and livelihoods. Both types of people could use that “knowledge for life” they gained to improve their lives, livelihoods, and communities. Of course, in doing so, they would improve our country and world.
This week is Thanksgiving week. I am personally thankful for our Cooperative Extension System and K-State Research and Extension. Besides providing me with a career, it provided my mom, me, the rest of my family, and countless other families who dreamed of a better life with the education needed to empower us to create that better life.
I am also personally thankful for all of you – our Extension professionals, volunteers, and all those Extension professionals and volunteers that came before us – for dedicating your expertise, time, effort, hearts and souls to our Extension mission. Whether you are a researcher, specialist, agent, marketing and communications specialist, administrator, administrative staff, custodian, or volunteer, you play a critical role in this thing we know and love called Extension. You are the reason Extension works. You are the reason why people like my mom felt empowered to go out and improve their little corner of the world, and, in doing so over and over again, you have helped to make the world a better place.
Thank you and have a wonderful and well deserved Thanksgiving holiday!