As this chapter of my life comes to a close, I’d like to say a few things.

Thank you to Tracy Nolan, Chad Brock and everyone else involved in creating this opportunity for me. It’s been a real blessing. The things I have learned and the people I have met will stay with me forever.

I had a great teacher and mentor in Chad. He taught me things about gardening, carpentry work and thinking outside the box. We ran into very little that, between the two of us, we couldn’t sort out. Thank you, brother.

I have helped wonderful people provide food for themselves and their loved ones. I have received gardening tips that make me excited to grow my own delicious food. For the friendship and advice, I am forever grateful. The time I have spent with this program has reaffirmed that you can do so much for yourself with a little hard work and a little help. The rainy summer we had was a reminder that we work on God’s time, not ours. It also helped remind me that we should be thankful for what we got done, not upset about what we didn’t. I also learned the value of our Cooperative Extension offices and the helpful people that work there. I had no idea they even existed, let alone the fact that so much information and assistance was available there. If you haven’t gone to see what yours has to offer, I recommend doing yourself a favor and checking them out.

I don’t want to make this too lengthy, so I’ll close by saying that this is a wonderful program full of wonderful people. As I move on, I wish everyone involved in it the very best. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of it. I can’t say enough about how much of a blessing it has been.