Photo: Marie and Mark Canon, of Canon Dairy Farm in West Middlesex, Pennsylvania, with their son, Trent Canon, and daughter, Josie Offerdahl.
We asked dairy farmer Marie Canon to tell us her love story.
I first met him in a cow barn at the county fair. I had hoped he would ask me out that week but he didn’t. I thought I would never see him again (he was from the next county over). But a good friend had invited him to a bonfire the following week. There, he asked if he could call me! Just shy of a year later, Mark asked if I could help him with evening milking because everyone else had meetings or the night off. Chores were uneventful. He made me pancakes for dinner. I helped him clean up then went to the living room to watch TV. Next thing we know there are about 15 heifers running past the window having a grand old time! By the time we got the heifers in, the fence repaired, and back into the house his parents and brother-in-law were home.
His parents greeted us with a bit of an odd expression and invited the brother-in-law to watch TV. They closed the door and turned the volume up louder than normal. Then that blue-eyed, dark-haired boy took me out to the porch swing. He read me a great poem, that he wrote, that summed up our year together with humor and love! The last line was him asking me to marry him!
Now, more than thirty years later, I can see how that one evening was just a snippet of what are our life together was going to look like. Working together, cows and heifers throwing monkey wrenches in the middle of best laid plans, in-laws that pay attention and do what is necessary for the health of our relationship, humor and lots of laughter and most importantly, love. Love for each other, love for our kids and extended family, love of the land and animals entrusted to our care and the love and care of our Lord Jesus who saw fit to have us meet in a cow barn at the county fair over thirty years ago.