By Melissa Hart

 In 1989, when I found out I was going to have to write a weekly column, I started to sweat wondering what on earth I could possibly offer on a weekly basis. Thirty-two years later, minus the eight years I took off to have children, I’m still here asking myself, what on earth do I have to say this week?

One of the earliest columns I wrote was about the benefits of being on the livestock judging team in college. I was fresh off the team, so I had plenty to say about it. The ability to make a decision and defend myself, the challenge of speaking clearly while standing in front of an expert and  the quickness with which we had to place a class of Duroc gilts that all looked the same and wouldn’t stand still, were just a few of the outtakes from judging that would help me in life.

Little did I know in 1986 that I would meet a complete stranger 35 years later in Stillwater, Okla., and know his pedigree well enough to give him a big hug.

Two weeks ago, as we were packing up to head home from the Southern National Holstein and Jersey shows at the Payne County Fairgrounds in Stillwater, a big truck pulled up next to our car. A dark-haired young man jumped out and Bobby said, “You missed the show, it’s all over.”

The young man dressed in a suit coat and a pale orange dress shirt said, “I’m here for a livestock judging team reunion.” As soon as I heard that I popped back out of the car and said, “Did you say livestock judging team reunion?”

He and his friend began to explain what it was all about and then I said, “Livestock judging is the best, I was on the team at Michigan State, and in fact, my mom was the first woman on the MSU team back in the 50s.”  Then he looked and said, “You know, my mom was on a team at Michigan State too.”

And all at once I knew exactly who he was. I said, “Your Lynne Hachigian’s boy!” And as soon as he confirmed it, I walked over and gave him a big hug as if I was his long-lost aunt and said, “She was on my team!”

I had seen Cale on Lynne’s social media pages as he had grown up on their cattle ranch in Kansas. Lynne grew up in Detroit and as she always clarified, not in the suburbs, downtown Detroit. Soon after college she married Ron Hinrichsen, they moved to Kansas, had two children and both are at Oklahoma State University.

We took a selfie and then I posted it on Facebook so Lynne could see that while we may live hundreds of miles apart, agriculture continues to bind us together as one big family.