wfn.org | Nebraska couple faces realities of rural life

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Nov. 8, 1999 News media contact: Tim Tanton·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.
10-21-24-71BP{595}

NOTE: Photographs are available with this story.

By Cheryl Hahs Edwards*

HOLDREGE, Neb. (UMNS) -- Aldon and Erna Thieszen should be thinking about
retirement and taking it easy, but they're not. 

Like many longtime farmers and ranchers, Aldon, 68, and Erna, 62, have had
to change professions. In the process, their entire way of life is changing.

The couple always thought they would spend their lives on the farm. They
persevered through years of volatile weather conditions, weak farm prices,
low yields and personal health problems.

"We just kept believing it would be better next year," Erna said.

But better never came. The Thieszens reached the point where they had to
sell their farmland and take new jobs. Through all the changes, they have
been sustained by the support of their family, church and Stephens Ministry.

The Thieszens have been farming near Holdrege for more than a quarter of a
century, moving there from Hamilton County, Nebraska, 28 years ago. Now,
they're contemplating leaving their longtime home.

Aldon has worked on his family's farm since the 1950s. In the 1990s, both of
his parents died. With his father's death in 1997, much of the land became
part of the estate, and Aldon became a renter.

Owing debts to the estate, Aldon and Erna proposed a five-year plan to sell
the land to an investor with a five-year lease for them to farm it. Aldon's
five siblings agreed, so a Realtor was contacted and a contract was signed.

During that time, Aldon began having health problems, and doctors determined
his gall bladder should be removed. However, the harvest was at hand, and it
was no time for surgery. Rain and snow slowed the harvest, delaying the
procedure even more. In pain and heavily medicated, Aldon worked on, finally
undergoing surgery on Dec. 1.

During his hospitalization, the family opted to sell a 160-acre plot of land
that Aldon had been renting. With 160 acres left, he and Erna continued
farming. They looked on the positive side; perhaps less ground would make
things better.

Despite their optimistic outlook, talking to the National Association for
Rural and Mental Health in Minnesota last August was one of the hardest
things they've ever done. Preparing for the program required that they
examine year by year, event by event, each step that brought them to the
point of knowing they would not be farmers for the rest of their lives.

Recounting those events brought a flood of unpleasant memories, including
not only the difficulties with farming, but also the stress of dealing with
people who simply don't understand farm life. Some may find it more
comfortable to blame poor money management for farm failures, but disasters
and volatile prices play devastating roles.

The Thieszens had to appeal for help to keep themselves going.

"Last fall and winter, prices were so low and the weather so bad," Erna
said. "Once again we called the Nebraska Farm Hotline number for
assistance."

Asking for assistance is difficult when a farm family that helps feed the
world must rely on commodities and food stamps. Through the years, the
Thieszens have used the hotline, Farm and Legal Financial Clinics and the
Nebraska Farm Mediation Service.

Now that farming is no longer their life, Aldon works odd jobs, doing
carpentry and lawn care. Erna babysits for three boys and provides in-home
care for an elderly woman one day a week.

"We felt I needed to earn the bread and butter for our living; the (farm)
income was no longer adequate," she said.

With the downward spiral in hog prices and land values, Erna's in-home care
position seems to be the answer. The money has made a real difference - a
difference that will help carry them into the future.

"We had a retirement plan," Aldon said, "but that's about gone."

Medicare has helped with some of Aldon's medical bills, but Social Security
checks just don't stretch, Erna said.

And there will be little Social Security for Erna.

"We just never got around to paying me," she said.

Through the difficult times, their church has been one of their main support
systems. For them, the new Stephen Ministry at Holdrege United Methodist
Church was more than just another program; it was a turning point. The
Stephen Ministry is an ecumenical program through which lay people provide
service and support to others in the community. Each of the Thieszens was
assigned a Stephen minister.

"We were spiritually and emotionally drained," Aldon said. "It's encouraging
to know that there are people who are willing to listen in a supportive
manner. My (Stephen) minister's family went through something like this in
the '30s."

The Thieszens also count other blessings, such as strengthened relationships
with their three daughters and six grandchildren, ages 8 to 18.

"It has drawn our immediate family closer, as they have supported us or
answered questions or listened," Erna said. "Listening is so important! I
can't stress that enough."

Each daughter and grandchild has given them strength through phone calls,
cards and other expressions of support, Erna said. A son-in-law bought Aldon
a case of power tools, which would have cost about $1,000 if bought
individually.

Looking back over the years, Aldon talked about his decision to stay on the
family farm and work for his parents, while the rest of his brothers and
sisters went to college and started lives away from the farm.

"I was the difference," Aldon said. "I stood in the gap."

The relocation to Holdrege in 1971, promised to improve the family's
financial situation. However, without Aldon's knowledge, his father
unwittingly agreed to terms with a Realtor who misrepresented them.

After a difficult transition, the '70s were good years. Finances improved;
things went well. The Thieszens made it through the often-difficult '80s
only to be plunged into another decade filled with more disappointments.

Since 1992, the couple has suffered financial devastation as a result of
plummeting prices, storm damage, late frosts, an early fall, low yields and
a barn fire that claimed not only the barn but also 202 newly weaned pigs.

In November 1998, an accident sent Aldon to the emergency room. A high-lift
jack malfunctioned, and the handle hit him in the head. While there was no
internal bleeding, he had difficulty with his balance for most of the
winter.

That winter, while reviewing their finances and going back over the decades,
the couple decided to quit farming.

"So we sold the land at public auction, but land prices were dropping,"
Aldon said. "We didn't get enough to pay bills, but we retained the
farmstead; we do have a place to live."

A friend bought the land that day, sold it the next day and split the $3,000
profit with the Thieszens. The money is helping prepare the house for this
winter, including shingles for the roof and a new door.

Now the cattle and hogs are gone, except for a few for personal use. The
machinery was sold at auction Oct. 30.

Going through the auction was hard, but when it was over, Aldon said, "It
just seems like everything fell into place." 

The weather was good, and more than 130 people were bidding. Even the
auctioneer was surprised at the high prices the items brought. "The
auctioneer said, 'We had a little help from the man upstairs today,'" Aldon
said.

Erna's Stephen minister visited before the sale, left and later returned.
Afterward, the Thieszens learned their fellow church members had held a
prayer vigil all day.

While they look back on the years in Holdrege with melancholy, they still
manage to find a bright side.

"This was a winner," Aldon said. "Everything has been better since we moved
here. We've become more active in the church, and we've felt that caring
hand on our shoulders many times. You know what I mean, when it rests there
saying, 'We care about you.'"

But there is still the unknown. This winter, the couple plans to stay on the
homestead. After that, they don't know. Will they move into Holdrege or to
Beatrice, where Erna was raised and where her mother still lives?

Erna talked about recapturing what she has lost.

"Each springtime, not only does the farmer have renewed hope, (but) the
farmer's wife experiences this also, as the seed bed is prepared, the seeds
planted, the new calves and kittens are born, nurtured and grow," she said.
"I don't feel that certain happiness I used to feel. I am in transition, but
I trust I can meet this daily challenge."

"We both feel our faith in God has sustained us," Erna said. "God loves in
all situations. God listens when I talk to or with Him. God pops ideas into
your mind. God is our refuge and strength."
# # #
*Edwards is the director of communications for the Nebraska Conference.

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
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