10/16/2026
I am 40 years old today
I definitely used to think 40 was the age where you were supposed to have everything figured out.
Turns out you absolutely do not, well, at least not in my case….
I have more questions now than I did at 30.
I change my mind more.
I listen more.
I understand people better.
I’m more comfortable admitting when I don’t know something.
And I’m realizing that growing up isnt like this milestone that you achieve. It just keeps happening.
This whole mid life crisis thing? Wasn’t ready for that one.
Turning 40 has made me think a lot about where I fit in all of this.
I grew up in Yuma. My family has been here for generations. And now I’m raising my own kids on the same ground, surrounded by a community that helped raise me.
That means WAY more to me now than it ever did when I was young.
I see it constantly at The Lemon Grove.
Someone will walk in who was one of my teachers. Or a coach. A friend’s mom or dad. Somebody that works with a family member. Somebody who knew my grandparents. Somebody who remembers me when I was a kid running around being obnoxious with absolutely no idea where life was going to take me.
And now they’re walking into this place I built. And it touches me every single time.
Because none of us actually raise ourselves.
It really does take a village, and the older I get, the more I recognize just how big mine was and continues to be.
I think The Lemon Grove has become my way of giving something back to myvillage.
It’s a love letter to agriculture, to my family, to Yuma, and to all the people who poured a little bit of themselves into me along the way.
This past year also pushed me in ways I never expected.
I learned that caring about your community sometimes means putting yourself out there when it would be a whole lot easier to shut up and go to the beach. Like, seriously.
I learned that if I’m going to complain about something being wrong, I better be willing to try and fix it.

At some point you realize there isn’t another group of adults coming to take over.
It’s us now.
We’re the parents. We’re the business owners. We’re the neighbors. We’re the people our kids are watching and relying on.
I think part of becoming an adult is finally understanding that our parents were once standing exactly where we are. So were our grandparents and our great grandparents.
They worked, raised families, built businesses, farmed, served their communities, survived hard times and sacrificed to leave something behind for the next generation. They carried the load for a while, just like the generations before them did. And they didn’t have it all figured out.
We inherited the communities they built, the lessons they learned, the traditions they started and the opportunities they created.
We have a responsibility to carry the good things forward and hopefully leave this place a little better for our kids than we found it.
And through all of it, the greatest thing that ever happened to me was meeting my wife.
She gave me a family of my own and two incredible kids, and somehow every year since she came into my life has managed to become my new favorite year.
39 was the best year of my life.
38 was the best year before that.
And I fully intend for 40 to beat them both.
Thank you to everyone who helped raise me, loved me, taught me, challenged me, believed in me, or gave me a swift kick in the ass when I needed one.
I hope I can spend the next 40 returning the favor.
💛T
Rambo would have been 14 today but we lost him in June. We shared a birthday.
