Meet Leroy. Leroy is a man from North Dakota whom I met while speaking there at the 76th Annual North Central Seed Show and Ag Expo in early February. I was making a speech about the remarkable women from my Farmwives Book Project and how very special our communities are and Leroy was a part of my audience.
I was signing books after my speech and chatting with folks I noticed he had waited quite a while to come and say hello. When he did, Leroy and I chatted about farm life and farm families and he told me about a very special family close to him. He had worked on their family farm as a farmhand and they had become like family to him.
Leroy told me that my speech made him cry and that he thought it was really special I had recorded parts of these women's lives in book for them and their families to have forever. We continued to talk and we shared an amazing conversation where he told me his fear that no one would know what to write in his obituary when he was gone and that he feared many of his stories (like that of this special farm family) would go to the grave with him.
And, so... I am helping Leroy write his obituary... before he is gone. Because, you never know what can happen, or when. And, because I think all lives are great stories.
Until next time,
xo.
Billi
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AUTHOR Billi J. Miller is an author, photographer, speaker and writer from east-central Alberta, Canada and is the sole founder of "The Women Among Us". Previously a city-living, nine-to-five Government worker, Billi moved to the country to marry the farmer of her dreams in 2010 and traded concrete and traffic for life on a 100-year old prairie farm. Quickly falling in love with her new home thick with deep roots and a long history, she harnessed her entrepreneurial spirit by creating a successful business as a writer, photographer & speaker. In 2016, she authored the first of a two-book series about the remarkable contributions of farmwives and has been recognized for her work on CBC, Global TV, City TV, as well as countless newspapers and magazines both in Canada and in the US. Miller has truly found her passion "telling stories from the heart and telling stories that matter". Billi resides with her husband and two young girls on a 109-year old farm in Alberta, Canada where she works from her home office, her favourite local coffee shop, or on the road while traveling for an event.