Growing up on the farm his father bought in the 1950s, John Schupp would be the first to admit that there’s no better place than home.Schupp had numerous opportunities to move off the farm he helped pay off near Eldon, Mo. He could have taken a job in Alaska working on an oil pipeline after he got out of school. He could have bought a farm in Kansas when it went up for sale. But Schupp chose to do neither. Instead, as an 80 year-old he continues to watch over his cattle, bail hay and chop wood just as he did as an 18 year-old right out of school.
Schupp cannot deny, though, that maintaining a farm is hard work. His to-do list is never fully checked off. Some days require more work, others may be lighter, but as Schupp says there, is always something that needs to be done. But he knows no different and therefore feels obligated to keep providing a life for him and his wife on the plot of land that has been a part of him for last 60 years.
https://vimeo.com/81564183">http://vimeo.com/81564183
‘The Ties That Bind …’ is a four-part video series that tries to open a window into what the lives of the elderly in small Missouri communities.
Our goal is to acquaint others with these characters in hopes of raising awareness about rural people, life, activities and roles.