On a cold snowy day in December, I was visiting with my husband about the Ohio Holstein Woman of the Year contest. I was going through a list of women who I thought were deserving of this award and told Bobby I was going to send their names in to the contest coordinator.

He responded, “That’s none of your business, you need to stay out of that.”

Wondering why he had such a stern response, I argued that it WAS my business and why on earth did he think I needed to keep my nose out of it? He didn’t say much more, but I honestly wondered if we needed some sort of medication for him.

Fast forward three months and I was sitting at the Ohio Holstein Convention during the awards luncheon. They Woman of the Year award was up and although I knew they had some nominations, I had no idea who this year’s winner was. They try to keep it a secret and usually the family of the winner will sneak in the back door during the presentation and surprise her when she gets the award.

About three sentences into the presentation, it started to sound very familiar.  About 30 seconds later I realized that I was the award winner. I looked at my daughter sitting next to me and she flashed a smile.

When I got up to receive the flowers and embroidered blanket, I turned and saw all of our children standing there with big smiles. They had all snuck into the banquet hall and I was completely surprised by all of it. The only one who wasn’t there was Bobby, who was at home, sick.

It is an understatement to say I am honored by this award. There are so many women who have been named the Woman of the Year in Ohio who I respect and look up to. Esther Welch, Diana Miley, Kristy Ackley, Dannette Simpson, and the list goes on and on. To be counted among these hardworking women in agriculture is incredibly humbling to say the least. And the fact that our children took time out of their busy lives to be a part of the presentation was the icing on the cake. And that they all kept it a secret for three months is astounding!

As I drove home from the convention, I felt so grateful for the honor, and it dawned on me that maybe my husband doesn’t need medication after all. He was behind the entire nomination and didn’t want me to ruin it by creating more competition for myself. I’m still in awe that my family would go to the trouble to nominate me and am thankful to the Ohio Holstein Women and the Ohio Holstein Association for the award.