The Perfect Name for our Dream Farm
There were many family discussions and questions to consider when we bought our family farm. Some were serious and logistical. Moving out of the school district meant no more school busses and classmates next door. How would we coordinate rides? Others were less serious but no less logistical. The girls would each have their own rooms but the rooms were adjoined. Would they each have their own separate areas or would they make one room the sleeping area and the other a girls only living room? Serious stuff!
Driving one day, the discussion on bedroom logistics was getting rather heated. So to diffuse the situation, I posed the question, “What should we name the farm?” The car was silent for a few moments and then the ideas began flowing. “Chilicki Farm!” Too boring. “Chilicki Ranch!” It’s not a ranch. “Chilibean Acres!” We don’t make chili or grow chili beans. One by one, each idea was shot down until the car was again filled with silence.
Great Grandpa’s milk can
“What about ‘Patch of Heaven?’” Tato suggested. Smiles crept across our faces and everyone started chiming in. It was perfect for so many reasons. I had dreamed of living on a farm my entire life. For me, being on a farm was the best place to be. Just like heaven. As a kid, Tato loved the Disney movie, “Home on the Range.” The name of the farm in the movie? “Patch of Heaven.” All of the events that led us to finding the farm and to actually being able to sell our house and move there were nothing less than divine intervention. The whole experience was truly miraculous and surreal. Just like heaven. Patch of Heaven was the perfect name for this farm.
Happy birthday in heaven, Mom!
Today, on what would have been my mom’s 63rd birthday, that name holds an even more special place in my heart. Mom has only ever seen our farm from heaven. But there are so many times I can feel her, and all of the loved ones we miss so dearly, here with us. I see them in all the little things around the farm and smile knowing that they are watching from their own patch of heaven.
