The Art of Neighboring
We've all seen images of rows of combines showing up to help when a neighboring farmer is ill or injured or passes away. It’s not at all unusual for members of rural communities to show up for each other like this, but no matter how many times they do, it tugs at the heartstrings.
Good neighbors come through for us in big ways like that, but it’s the little, everyday things that really define a quality neighbor. My family is blessed beyond measure because Mike and Julie Ford are our neighbors.
The most dramatic example is when my husband, Jayson, was out of town, our boys were little, there was a blizzard, and one of our cows was down. Without hesitation, Mike came over and discovered she was trying to calve and was having problems.
It's a long, sad story I won't go into here, and the cow and calf both ended up dying. Mike probably knew that was the most likely outcome, but he still did everything he could, including scooping the cow up with his front-end loader and moving her into his dry, warm barn so the vet could treat her. When someone will put his arm inside your cow in the middle of a blizzard, you know you’ve got a good neighbor.