4 minute read
NOT TAKEN FOR GRANTED
So long my friend
I don’t remember the first time that I met Brian Good. It would have been at a cattle show, or maybe a sale, but it would have been at some sort of cattle event.
He would have walked up to me, extended his hand and using his best official Canadian Angus Association voice said:
“Brian Good...Canadian Angus Association.” as he shook my hand. I would have told him my name and we would have chatted for a while until I got busy, or Brian was approached by someone else.
I didn’t know then just how that moment would affect my life in the years that followed. Brian and I became fast friends. Over the years we travelled together and apart to functions across Canada.
Our travels together would begin with a phone call from Brian that started with an invite, then a travel itinerary, and then a starting point. Once we met, Brian would toss me the keys and say “Here you drive” and off we would go.
We would spend the time travelling talking. Sometimes it was serious conversations, when we lost friends or family members, but usually it was pretty lighthearted. Both of us liked to hear the
other laugh and so it became a mission to do just that, make the other laugh.
Lauralee and I used to kid Brian about his neatly pressed shirts and jeans and his shiny boots. He confessed one day that his Mom pressed his shirts.
“Brian! You make your poor Mom iron your shirts?” Lauralee asked.
Lauralee jumped at the chance. “Brian... no woman likes to iron.”
By now all three of us were laughing. Brian gave Lauralee his best hurt puppy look and said “I pay her”.
Brian was a firm believer in loyalty, he was loyal to his family, to his friends and to the Angus Association. He and I both agreed that loyalty is somewhat unusual in this day and age and that bothered us both. He believed that society and the cattle industry in particular, needs to get back to being loyal to those that are loyal to you and ... if that makes no sense to you, then you are part of the problem.
During our travels we exchanged stories and opinions on cattle, breeders, cattlemen, and a host of other topics. We made lists of everything from places to eat, to places we liked to visit to who we would pick to be pall bearers at our funerals. We promised each other that what was said in the truck stayed in the truck and we honoured that promise until July 19. I was devastated but at the same time extremely honoured to take my place at Brian’s Celebration of Life.
The Canadian Angus Association has had General Managers, CEO’s, board members, and Presidents, but there has only been one face of the Canadian Angus industry and that was Brian Good. He was a gentleman in every way and I am proud to have called him my friend.
I imagine that Brian pulled up to the Pearly Gates in a bright, shiny pick up with Canadian Angus stickers on it, parked the truck right in front of the gates and marched his neatly pressed shirt and shiny boots up to the guy at the gate.
The guy would look at Brian for a moment and reply “We only take the good here sir.”
Brin would turn to the next in line and say “Looks like I got it made.”
I imagine that he will march right in and start making new friends as well as meeting old ones. He will remember every one of their names and I hope they have phones in heaven because Brian will be lost without one.
Godspeed my friend... you left this earth too soon, but you left it better then you found it.
Grant Rolston was born and raised in ranching country near Penticton, British Columbia. After graduating school, he worked on a purebred Hereford ranch, then assumed a position at Western Breeders Artificial Insemination Unit. In 1980, he left the livestock scene and joined the Edmonton Police Department, where he received his formal training in photography, working for the IDENT unit (crime scene investigation). After a decade, he returned to the industry, purchasing a herd of purebred Angus cattle but both Grant and his wife, Lauralee, worked off the ranch to make a living. He chose livestock photography and is now Canada’s premier livestock photographer of beef cattle. Grant and Lauralee travel throughout nine provinces in Canada for on farm photography, in addition to all major livestock shows, including the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto, the Canadian Western Agribition and all major National Junior shows in the summer months. Grant and Lauralee Rolston reside in Vulcan, Alberta. With four decades of experience, Grant shares things that are “Not Taken for Granted.”
