Because this is what we do

Just as family and friends have rallied around Bruce and I while I'm undergoing chemo, keeping our fridge and freezer full and helping out with odd jobs, farmers in this community rallied around a farm family in mourning on Thursday. Just a month ago a young farmer received the devastating diagnosis of aggressive cancer that had already spread through his body. Before the family even had the chance to come to grips with this, he died early Tuesday morning leaving a wife and 2 daughters in shock and several hundred acres of corn yet to be harvested.

The neighboring farmers had already set a date to combine Neal's corn and the farmers answering the call was just staggering. Combines, grain carts, tractors and wagons and semi's poured into an empty bean field early Thursday morning and received their maps of which field they were to report to.

There were two and three combines to a field along with equipment to haul the corn away.

I'm not sure of the exact count, at one point I heard there were 22 semi's.

It was quite a sight.

Farm Credit Services had the lunch covered for all the workers, there were between 70 and 100 farmers working.

"Dr. Wilcox, I presume??"

Mark laid claim to these overalls after his son, the vet, left them at their house.

Despite the sad reason all these farmers were here, it was an uplifting gathering, when friends and neighbors can come together to help another, it makes you proud.

Here comes another combine, stopping for dinner.

Even the littlest farmer is happy to be here.

More semi's roll in for a bite to eat before heading to the ethanol plant to unload.

This is not a complete list of all the combines but you get the idea.

Even my farmer got in on the harvest of love, that's our red tractor and wagon, they sent those with wagons to town to the elevator.

I would bet that most farmers left their own equipment in unfinished fields to help out the family, like this one.

But that is what we do.