Reid Tomlin | Farm Session | Statesville NC

Farm Session

Today was a special day. I got to spend it with Reid Tomlin (Abby Tomlin’s grandfather) and grandmother. When I first arrived at their house Abby introduced me to them and she had to head out to teach some riding lessons. After she left we sat and chatted for a little bit before we went out to the farm.

When I first saw Reid, he instantly reminded me of my grandfather and all the heartstrings kicked in. My heart started to explode because I have missed my grandfather so much but this brought a little bit of him back. He took me out to his building where he had to put some logs on the fire. The woodstove took up quite a bit of the building and he uses this to heat his hot water. Then he took off to show me his cows. We chatted a little bit about the cows and their breeding.

He said it was time to feed because their bellies were getting hungry so he climbed up into the tractor. While he was climbing up in the tractor he looked over his shoulder and said, “Getting old is not fun” and kept on climbing till he pulled himself up into the tractor. He grabbed a round bale and started to cut the netting off of it. While he was cutting the netting her grandmother leaned over and said he wasn’t supposed to take the hay out to the cows but he hollered back and said it was fine and shook his head.

I followed him to the fence, opened the gate so he didn’t have to get out and he took off down through the pasture faster then I could keep up. He sure does like to drive fast!! He laid the first bale down, rolled it down the hill and came back for another one. This time he put the second bale into the hay ring and took off again. I think he just liked to have a little fun when the boys (his sons) were not around on the tractor.

After we got back to the barn from putting hay out he said let me take you up to the chicken houses so you can see my wood splitter. He needed to split a few loads of logs. He sure was proud of his wood splitter and was telling me how he built it. It sure was a pretty nifty wood splitter (a lot more than we had growing up). He rode with me over to the old barn where he grew up and started telling me about how the barn was built in 1942 when he was 5 years old and they used to milk cows out of it. Reid went onto explain the house he grew up in, his brothers and sisters and all of his kids. He sure is proud of his family and the life that he has lived.

After a few hours on the farm we headed back to their house and sat and watched the sunset. A few people came by and he just through his hand up as family came in and out.

Today was a fun day. It was a day I needed. I have been missing my grandfather pretty bad lately because he would have loved Lyza and he would have loved being a great grandpa. Abby’s grandparents loved all over Lyza and even asked if she could stay. If you have grandparents please go and spend time with them, take all the pictures and cherish them. They have lived a lot more life than you and can offer you a listening ear when you need it. They love to just sit and talk because they grew up in a generation before cell phones. This is why I love what I do because these pictures will be a part of their family. They will hang on their walls and remember their grandfather, father exactly like he was. Nothing was posed, this was a normal afternoon for him on the farm.