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That's a keeperLast week I wrote about the "Dads, Lads and Lassies" event that took place Halloween weekend in Litchfield, Neb. I talked about the true mentoring of youth in the great outdoors. Combine kids, grandparents and nature and you have what I believe is the best recipe for teaching the next generation. Let me remind you of one paragraph in particular. "I might also mention that the winning team this year included the only Lassie in the contest. Sydney Kucera, the 13-year-old daughter of Jake Kucera, was that young lady and that surprised no one locally because it is widely known that her grandfather Mike Kucera rarely misses." Unbeknownst to me, just hours before I had written that column, my friend and neighbor Mike Kucera lost his battle with cancer. I am told that immediately upon completing the hunting contest, Jake and Sydney received a phone call stating that Mike had taken a turn for the worse and they needed to get to the hospital. In his last hours of life here on Earth, Mike Kucera learned of his granddaughter's success in the contest. Knowing Mike, nothing could have made him more proud. Mike was only 56. He and his wife, Jeanne, live only four miles from my house. He was one of those guys you could not visit with enough. He loved nature, ranching, Hereford cows and people. Come to think of it, almost every one of our great visits took place at one of his granddaughters' activities. As I was going through the line at the visitation, looking at all the photos of Mike hunting and enjoying the outdoors, someone behind me said, "Mike was born 150 years too late." I couldn't disagree more. Mike and I did seem to share a certain interest in the old ways, but the world needs more Mike Kuceras today to match the integrity and fortitude of yesteryear. If we had more folks like him, we might not be dealing with the challenges that we face now. Every time I saw Mike, he would comment about my latest column in the High Plains Journal and close with "Keep giving them hell, Trent." All of that leads into something that I don't believe I talk about nearly enough. Without question, I am biased about raising kids in rural America. I remember a few years ago I was on a school speaking tour in Nevada. I had just spoken at a small rural high school with 300 kids in the gym. The lack of respect kids have for other human beings and even for themselves is extremely disappointing. The late Davey Fulstone and I were traveling together and he asked me, "What is wrong with our kids today?" My answer was simply that kids don't grow up with their grandparents anymore. I truly believe there is some magic about learning from the second generation before you. As a kid, I had the great fortune of growing up within 10 miles of both sets of grandparents. My grandpa Loos was in my life every single day. Honestly, there is a different level of respect given to grandparents and, I think, some of life's real lessons. How many kids today don't live within a bike ride to their grandparents? Too many! One day on the radio, I said it should not be a treat to see your grandparents. I hope that makes sense, but I feel like seeing them just a couple of times each year during the holidays is simply not enough. The reason that thought stays front and center in my mind is that so many people remind me that I said it--and tell me how hard it hit them when they heard it. I am truly going to miss Mike Kucera driving up and down my road in his red pickup with a rifle hanging in the back window or one of our great visits at one of our girls' softball games. But those are the memories that I have of him. As a grandparent, he understood the importance of creating those memories for his grandkids. I hope all of us can keep in mind the importance of creating great memories for our kids, and grandkids as well. Everything else is subject to disappearance. Editor's note: Trent Loos is a sixth generation United States farmer, host of the daily radio show, Loos Tales, and founder of Faces of Agriculture, a non-profit organization putting the human element back into the production of food. Get more information at www.FacesOfAg.com, or e-mail Trent at trent@loostales.com.
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