The year is 2000, twelve years after Agnes' dead.

Lolke has moved into the new retirement home they built at a corner of their farm property.

For a Christian immigrant farmer, cows came first, providing income. Second, church and school providing spiritual needs and growth. Third, a new house (for the wife was often the excuse, as the cost of a new house would buy two dozen cows or a half a dozen tractors) the final reward for their efforts.

It was a splendid dwelling they build, that like the gold headpiece of old proudly worn by the farmer's wife, was the unmistakable sign of the farmer's welfare.

Anyone could see Agnes' hands in its design and finishing of the home of their retirement.

It pained Lolke that his wife and partner could not together with him enjoy the sweet fruits of their labor. Though farming has its spurts of leisure, a dairy-farmer puts far more hours into it's operation than most other occupations or undertakings do.

Together with their offspring they had fared well and became prosperous but after two years a widower Lolke felt the anguish of being without Agnes, as he walked alone in the dwelling which was meant for both.

Without purpose he entered the small but well stacked library, another idea of his wife, where his eye fell upon the old dutch Staten bible which was given them at their wedding by his in-laws. He took the large volume from the shelf and sat himself in the comfortable chair where he leafed through the pages written in dutch when his eye fell upon the last blank page on which Agnes had written some notes.

She had written down the name and date of her firstborn, Harke, less than a year after their marriage, in 1956, after that the name of his wife together with the date of their marriage, followed in the same order with the birth of the second son, almost one year later.

Under that Jonathan, the third, who was now a preacher in Toronto.

Before number four, she had made a different entry.

1962 – 1966, rented a 40 acre farm---------------- 27 cows
1963 - 4th son
1964 - 5th son
1966 - 6th son, rented 150 acre farm in pit polder 60 cows
1967 ---------------------------------------------------------70 cows
1968 - 7th son ---------------------------------------------80 cows

1970 - purchased own farm --------------------------80 cows
1973 -------------------------------------------------------120 cows
1975 -------------------------------------------------------145 cows
1988--------------------------------------------------------600 cows

After that followed one more entree by Agnes -

1988 – 7 sons - a good life - 600 cows, take good care of them Lolke.

In a few notes Agnes had led Lolke through their entire married and partnership life of thirty-two years. It had been a journey over a gravelly country road at times, but one that was smoothed by their unique and skillful working procedure as partners, with a total balance of seven sons and six-hundred cows.

And a good life.

Thank you Agnes, he mumbled as tears welled up in his eyes, put the bible on the shelf and walked outside where a darkening mist came in from the riverside. Leaning over the gate he scoured the field for his large Holstein bull he had grazing in the grass field.

How many times had they stood here together, feeling together, looking over the land, their land, happy about their blessings.

His eye caught something that should not be there. Better have a look. He jumped over the fence, congratulating himself that close to seventy he was still able to do that. He hurried to where he'd seen the dark spot in the meadow and found a sleeping person, a homeless man?

But why sleep in the middle of a field.

He nudged the man with his foot – no response.

The man was dead.