I am writing this for my Mother, Jackie Reaume. She has ridden horses her whole life and does not have one memory that does not include animals (in one way shape or form). When I was in High School (I am 41 and graduated in 1986....you do the math) she was given an orphaned cow whose mama had given birth to twins. As probably most of you know, that usually means one of the babies does not get the nutrional content it needs from mom. So, the rancher gave my mom the baby. You would have to know her, but my mother is one of those people that gives up her own food so that her animals can eat....AND she also is very eccentric in how she names her animals (which she does....ALL OF THEM!). So after very tedious consideration she came up with a name for this new addition to our home ( and believe me when I say "OUR HOME" since she kept it in there in order to bottle feed it 24/7)....she named her "Baby ZMOO" (pronounced ZaMoo). It did not take my mother long to realize that this had to be her next step into the animal world. She still loved her horses, but she became so much happier when she had something new to take care of. At that time in our life, she was about my age, we lived in Northern Texas (Vernon, to be exact) and she had Epsom-Barr Virus, which took her down pretty bad, but she had a new challenge now and she was not going to slack off.

So, the obvious next step (when the time was right) was to breed baby Zmoo, which she did. And thus started a new life for my mom. Pretty soon we had babies all over the place (remember....they ALL had names, which of course I NEVER remembered...even though they were family). Well, as all Ranchers/Farmers know, she became in hock with the bank up to her eyeballs, but she did not care. She spent each and every day outside with them, talking to them and they even came when she drove up, no matter how far away in the pasture they were. She had (and still does have) this amazingly high-pitched scream (she calls it her "call") and they came to it every time. I never really knew why because it is hideous, but it is her trade-mark. I have always thought that they came just so she would stop, but that is just my opinion.

So, 25 years went by and with droughts and thefts, she was getting deeper and deeper into trouble. She worked 2 jobs from bright and early in the morning to the middle of the night and in-between she came home and fed the herd (which at times was over 150). Every penny she earned went to feed these family members and the rest went to the bank, but it was never enough. She started losing everything...her truck (which she gave back to the bank to put towards the note), money from credit cards, my sister and I....ANYTHING to help her because we all knew if she lost this herd, it would be the end of her. And that is exactly what happened. The economy being what it is, she lost her jobs and in a tiny farm town, there were no other jobs for her to support her family. I have to give it to the bank...they did everything they could and held out as long as possible, but this past February, she lost everything. I can't imagine anything harder, its like she lost one of her children. SHE HAS NEVER RECOVERED!.

It kills me everytime I talk to her (which is daily....sometimes several times a day) because here is a woman who has never asked anything out of life and takes on everything given to her like a trooper. The whole county knows her and knows if they have a stray dog or cat that she will take it in, so on an average she has 7-10 dogs and too many cats to count. And as I said before, they ALL eat before she does. But, all she has ever wanted out of life is to have a little home where she could raise her animals with all the love her Texas-Sized heart can give, and it was all taken from her.

So, a few months ago, my sister got in touch with Jamie Williams, a well-known photographer, and wrote the letter (attached). Jamie then gave it to Jeff Hildebrant from Encore Western Channel who took my sister's letter and wrote a poem about my mom (also attached).

I am hoping that someone will see this and maybe have a thought or two about it. I know in my heart that my goal would be that someone would see this and say "please come live on my ranch and bring your animals and help me take care of mine", but that is probably not realistic, BUT.....

So, I will send this out into the cosmos and see what happens. I would love hearing from anyone with any thoughts, no matter what they are.

With all of my appreciation,
Sincerely,
Rachelle Reaume
Proud daughter of Jackie Reaume
Texas

Dear Rachelle;

I hope your mother doesn't give up. After the year we had, I wanted to give up too. We had to cut our horses from 12 to 5, both our beloved Rotts died within 2 months of each other, the IRS was all over us and I started having panic attacks.

Tell her to hang in there; with a heart as big as hers; any humane society would welcome her as a volunteer and she wouldn't have to give up eating to care for animals. When one door closes another will open.

Best of luck to both of you,

graywolf

I'm going to take the other approach and call me a heartless s.o.b. if you like, but this is still my opinion. If the bills can't be paid and the notes are past due, then sell down and get a managable sized herd. I take offense to the line written that states, "as all Ranchers/Farmers know, she became in hock with the bank up to her eyeballs. I ranch, my son ranches, I know many ranchers and farmers around here that are not over their heads in debt. It is called managment. Rather than going on the internet looking for bleeding hearts to send money, why not take on an operation that doesn't need to be funded by the bank and three jobs. Sure we get operating loans to buy the needed things for the ranch but our banker won't let us or anybody else he lends to get in over their heads. If we spend the operating money on things we don't need and our operation goes down, then I guess that is my wrong doing and I have to stand accountable for my actions. Is the bank just supposed to lose their money and then say everything is alright because somebody took on more than they could handle? Last I knew the banks loaned money because they are in the business to make money off of lending money. She signed a contract with the bank, nobody made her, she did it on her own free will.

A friend of mine had a PMU operation and Wyeth took back his contract. Being they were the only ones buying mare urine, he had no choice but to go out of business. He had a sizeable operating loan from the construction of his barns and his haying equipment. His banker is also a friend of mine too. I see both sides but I still side more with the bank. They have tried everything they can and don't want to foreclose and I don't want to see my friend lose his land but that is the reality.

Sorry if those aren't the words you wanted to hear but that is my opinion.

It is a sad story, but it's happened many times to many people. counsel from a wise man; the borrower is servant to the lender, and, shun debt like the plague. Every time ya pay interest on borrowed money it's money down the drain, or into a rich mans pocket.
Our family came up through debt, due to the faithfulness of my dad with a steady but not high paying job. Between the mid 60's and the mid 80's he payed off a small farm, then we sold and bought a place with 4 times the acerage in a cheaper location. paid off when we got it. Because of our expirence with debt, which isn't really bad but it does cost more than it should when ya add up interest, I refuse to do debt of any kind, even for a vehicle.
I often think about what would I do if I was dumped out on the road with nothing, I think I'd pick up cans till I made enough cash to buy a sleepin bag an tarp, and then a used bicycle. (come across a free horse and ditch the bicycle) Then go traveling around that way till I find a job somewhere with livestock, or vegetable production, or welding, or mechanics, or construction, etc. (I have expirence in all those things) Make a wage for a few months till I could save enough to buy 1-5 acres somewhere. Plant an acre or two of vegetables and make a few thousand that way, save every penny posible and put into an upgrade. The trick is to live cheap, work hard, make money and save it till it's enough to invest in something bigger. It's posible to live and eat extremely cheap and yet be reasonably comfortable, and have a healthier diet than normal. We grind our own grain, buy whole grain in bulk or grow it ourselves. That's a very cheap way to eat compared to normal methods. We used to buy feed corn, grind it, and use for cornbread. But quit when GMO junk started getting prevelent, we grow it now. An old friend we had survived the depression by eating boiled field corn, cheapest food he could find, we've eaten it that way and it's not a bad meal.
In my 25 years of working life so far (self employed farming and everything else thrown in) I've been through a lot of projects that failed, and many that only bairly broke even, and have learned, gotta take on an attatude of "NEVER GIVE UP" learn from my mistakes, but otherwise forget the past and press on, the future is waiting, what am I going to do with it? an oppurtunity in time waiting to be taken advantage of. If something I worked long and hard on colapsed, I won't waste time an energy feelin sorry for myself, just keep up courage and move on. It's the cowboy way, get bucked off, git back on and keep goin. Life is hard, life aint fair, don't expect it to be, just live it to the best of yer ability. RT
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http://www.greatcontroversy.org/books/gc/gc.html

A friend of mine had a PMU operation and Wyeth took back his contract. Being they were the only ones buying mare urine, he had no choice but to go out of business. He had a sizeable operating loan from the construction of his barns and his haying equipment. His banker is also a friend of mine too. I see both sides but I still side more with the bank. They have tried everything they can and don't want to foreclose and I don't want to see my friend lose his land but that is the reality.

I see we have a different opinion indeed. But, first of all....I did not post this to have ANYONE send money, I don't know where you got that idea. It is just a story about a terrific woman who is in the same situation as MANY Ranchers/Farmers. I am glad for you and your family who are not struggling like so many are. I was raised in the same small rural community she still lives in and have watched many, many, MANY farmers lose everything they worked for and lose ranches that had been in their family for generations. Does this mean they ALL "mis-managed" their businesses? I would have to say "NO". There are alot of reasons for businesses going under. My mother is just one statistic in many.

And how do you know how she spent her money? Every penny she earned working 2 jobs went to these animals and she had no help. Just her...no husband (or at least NO HUSBAND who was fit to be called a man), no sons, nobody...just her.

When she started this herd with the one calf, obviously she did not know how and where tiimes were going to take her, but she kept going, no matter what life threw at her and she never expected the bank to lose on her. She was and still is devastated that the bank was forced to come to this decision. She actually tried to sell out before they finally took them, about 6 months before, but the bank actually told her NOT TO at that time.

She is not the type of person who would hurt anyone for any reason and I am glad she won't be reading your response because for whatever reason, you took the whole story incorrectly.

I wish your family all the best and pray that you never have this happen to you.

Rachelle Reaume

quote name='NW' date='May 18 2009, 09:08 AM' post='15567']
I'm going to take the other approach and call me a heartless s.o.b. if you like, but this is still my opinion. If the bills can't be paid and the notes are past due, then sell down and get a managable sized herd. I take offense to the line written that states, "as all Ranchers/Farmers know, she became in hock with the bank up to her eyeballs. I ranch, my son ranches, I know many ranchers and farmers around here that are not over their heads in debt. It is called managment. Rather than going on the internet looking for bleeding hearts to send money, why not take on an operation that doesn't need to be funded by the bank and three jobs. Sure we get operating loans to buy the needed things for the ranch but our banker won't let us or anybody else he lends to get in over their heads. If we spend the operating money on things we don't need and our operation goes down, then I guess that is my wrong doing and I have to stand accountable for my actions. Is the bank just supposed to lose their money and then say everything is alright because somebody took on more than they could handle? Last I knew the banks loaned money because they are in the business to make money off of lending money. She signed a contract with the bank, nobody made her, she did it on her own free will.

A friend of mine had a PMU operation and Wyeth took back his contract. Being they were the only ones buying mare urine, he had no choice but to go out of business. He had a sizeable operating loan from the construction of his barns and his haying equipment. His banker is also a friend of mine too. I see both sides but I still side more with the bank. They have tried everything they can and don't want to foreclose and I don't want to see my friend lose his land but that is the reality.

Sorry if those aren't the words you wanted to hear but that is my opinion.
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