McCormick named ‘Women Who Impact’

Denise McCormick's story is about sacrifice, family and empowerment in her short chronicle about surviving the 1980s farm crisis on her family farm in Canaan Township in Henry County.

The lifelong Henry County resident is vulnerable in her recently published chapter in the book 'Women Who Impact: A Collection of Powerful Stories to Reconnect, Empower and Impact Your Soul's Journey,” edited by Kate Butler.

McCormick's chapter, titled 'From Surviving to Thriving,” is a story she has been forming for three decades, McCormick said.

'It's a tribute to my husband and his brother for their hard work and stewardship of the land,” McCormick said.

When McCormick told her husband John McCormick that she was going to write about their farm, John told her it was her story to write.

'That freed me up to say what I needed to say,” McCormick said.

In McCormick's chapter, she said she tries to explain to a larger population what caused the farm crisis and how it had nothing to do with the integrity or business savvy of the farmers.

Farmers felt isolated during the crisis, her family included, as they tried to make ends meet and keep what they had worked so hard on for generations, McCormick said.

McCormick's farm was run by four generations of her husband's family. They grew corn and beans. McCormick herself grew up on a dairy farm in the days when milk was delivered to the door. It helped her be a farmer's wife, McCormick said.

'We just felt like we couldn't let that go,” McCormick said. 'If this is what you really want, if farming is your passion, ride it out.”

McCormick talks about what she and John had to give up to provide for their four daughters and give them a carefree childhood while they were so strapped for cash.

McCormick, who postponed graduating from college to care for her and John's children, went back during the farm crisis while working several jobs and helping out around the farm.

McCormick begins her chapter, however, with a poem about her childhood that explains why she has the firm resolve to succeed that she carries with her today. The poem describes a golfing incident from when she was 13 years old. She was standing on a golf course with a friend who was struck by a golf ball and died.

The accident gave McCormick a belief that 'God and the universe” had a purpose for her life, McCormick writes in her chapter.

Another aspect of McCormick's childhood was also difficult for her to write like the abusive and dysfunctional family life she grew up in. She would often wake up in a cold sweat. 'They're going to know things about me,” McCormick thought.

'I agonized over those three sentences,” McCormick said. 'But to be truly honest, I have to tell it from my point of view.”

McCormick's story joins 29 other women's tales in 'Women Who Impact,” released in November. The book can be purchased on Amazon.

Women Who Impact isn't the first book to publish some of McCormick's work. In 2002, she had a chapter in the book 'Ordinary Miracles: True Stories About Overcoming Obstacles and Surviving Catastrophes,” edited by Deborah Labovitz.

At the time, McCormick didn't tell anyone but her students at IW about being published, and she isn't quite sure why.

'Maybe it's because I'm older now, but I kept a lot of people from realizing what they were capable of by not sharing my story,” McCormick said. 'I'm past all that now because I can only inspire other people by telling them about the book.”

For McCormick, being published is just another part of lifelong learning. McCormick graduated from Iowa Wesleyan University in 1989. She taught elementary students for 23 years in the Mt. Pleasant Community School District and was an education professor at IW.

McCormick will be holding book signings on Friday, Nov. 30, at the Mt. Pleasant Public Library from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Central Park Coffee Company from 2 to 5 p.m. and Friday, Dec. 21 at Central Park Coffee Company from 2 to 5 p.m.

To contact McCormick or book a signing, visit her website at www.denisemccormick.com or email her at denise@denisemccormick.