Brotherly pride - Insight 2
Funny how you look at a picture and somehow develop a profound, overwhelming sense of pride deep in your chest from nothing of substance. That’s exactly what I get from this well-timed shot my mother captured during branding this year. In the picture, it’s just us. Funny enough, we even dressed the same that day without realizing until Mom pointed it out to the two of us. Outsiders may see two young men, in the waning years of their twenties, working together to get one small task done within the overarching annual event that is branding day. To me it is far, far more than that. This was our first time branding beside one other after a combined seven-year absence.
On the surface two men dressed unfashionably the same, working together to get the job done. Deeper inspection realizes superficial differences where one bears only stubble while the other is bearded; the first being smaller, leaner and the second conveying raw strength in his hefty frame and stance. These brotherly similarities and differences are what make us an awesome, and at times dangerous, duo. Our twin appearance doubtlessly illustrates our bond even if purely incidental.
This momentary freeze of the two of us can be accurately explained with balance. One well entrenched within the family business developing dreams of the ranch’s future while the other finds his place at the table. This glimpse of two unique perspectives and separate halves uniting to continue a legacy as they apply one of Montana’s last symbol brands to the hide of a calf the traditional way. Both working in tandem and needing each other to complete the job. A partnership, a bond, developed over two lifetimes.
Beyond all that, I hold an overwhelming joy looking at the minute details. Both of us are covered in oil, grease, mud, manure, and well-earned sweat stains. I hold the deepest pride in the fact that we earned every one of those marks and continue to do so every day we walk out the door. The best part, though, is we both continue to display our family ranch’s brand upon our hats as we work to introduce an older, tradition-filled lifestyle into the modern, technology-engrossed twenty-first century. We are slowly building our brand from one for livestock to one for modern business.
This moment represents and illustrates the way we continually link our traditional life and culture to the present. You see us working side-by-side while doing things the ‘old school’ way. We still use a hot iron despite growing disapproval, our method the same as it was for the generations previous. I wrastle the calf and hold it down as my brother applies the brand. No need for ‘modern’ equipment – just old-fashioned strength, technique, and hard work. This is the epitome of modern-day ranching using yesteryear’s ways – there’s not a much better way to live for your ancestors if you ask me. And I get to do it all beside my brother.
I am proud of our journey. Like any relationship, we have had our ups and downs; particularly in our formative years, but they taught us invaluable lessons. Things we learned made us appreciate the other more. That better sense of understanding has led me to believe that, if offered, neither of us would turn back time because we needed those growing pains. Those troubles and scrapes led to our closeness today despite the years and thousands of miles we have been apart lately.
All that to say I am even more proud of what is missing. What you don’t see was caught mere moments before in a second picture: my father’s side at the edge of the frame observing the two of us. Despite the symbolism that seeps from that picture as the old man watches intently over his grown sons while they work, I prefer this one because it’s just us – the next generation. Everything we have done with my father and all the things the three of us have accomplished alongside my mother have made a difference. We constantly look around the ranch and see so much we want to fix, clean up, improve, and build. But when we look back at where we were twenty years ago, we have done so much, and it is only the beginning. This moment shows that growth, that generational hand-off, the future and, more importantly, our devoted tie to our past.
