Friends on Country Roads

Friends on Country Roads

September 2, 2013

I have a friend that I would like to shine a light on today. A few days ago, I met him on the road. As we approached one another, his arm slowly came out of his window, inviting me to stop.

One of the things that I enjoy about living in the country is that you can stop and talk to friends in the middle of the road. I enjoy those times when we can roll our windows down and just sit back in our seats and visit about anything.

My life is so enriched by having him as a friend. He isn’t the kind of guy that gets in your way, but he’s always right there when you need some help. It’s not uncommon to have him call you late at night or early in the morning.

He has an uncanny ability to observe everything that’s going on  on my farm. He usually has some helpful report that I need to know about…like…”You have a cow out of the pasture”,  or  once he reported that one of my horses was chasing the cows. He always has my back.

His wife is just as helpful. One Sunday morning while I was in church, she left a message on my cell phone and said that someone had run their car through my fence. She was worried that the cows would get out on the road. I live thirty-five miles away from that pasture. By the time I arrived on the scene, she had already gathered the cows and herded them into the corral to keep them safe from harm.

I feel that their friendship in action goes far beyond the duty of a good neighbor. I’m reminded that the world could be a lot better if everyone was as concerned about their neighbor as Frank is.

I have two more acts of kindness that Frank has done for me that has touched my heart deeply. One of his occupations is making headstones for family graves. My father passed away a couple years ago and he had purchased a beautiful headstone for my mother and himself. She had passed on earlier.

Everything had already been engraved on the headstone except the date of his death. In 

preparation for my father’s funeral, we stopped at the cemetery to prepare the grave site. 

We were surprised to find that the headstone had the final engravings. My friend had 

already visited the cemetery and performed that act of kindness.

On another occasion, our family dog had died. She had been such a wonderful friend for over 15 years. My wife, Gail, cried and felt so bad. We buried her in our pet cemetery.

To help Gail feel a little better, I found a nice, smooth, rock and gave it to Frank and he engraved the words, “Poochie, Fond Memories”  1996-2012. He and his wife gave this stone to Gail as a Mother’s Day gift. You can see why I love this friend and his dear wife, Carolyn.

Frank has a little statement that he uses in every situation. It doesn’t matter what life’s trials have dealt you, whether you are shoveling manure or basking in the sun, it’s fun to hear him exclaim, “It doesn’t get any better than this!