When the heart weeps for what is lost, the spirit laughs for
what it has found.- Sufi Aphorism
I found making this post particularly difficult. It wasn't until I found myself spending time to help care for Richard that I grew to know, respect and like him as a person. We all know he loved to run a tractor, fly his plane and talk farming. He took what life gave him accepting it with dignity, patience and a sense of humor. He kept his feelings to himself but he loved all his boys.
We could tell that when what I cooked wasn't the best he wouldn't complain but he didn't eat it as well as usual. Sometimes he would make a comment days later forgetting who the cook had been. :) He definitely loved his ice cream! They ran short of vanilla one day so he started planning how to rig up the truck to haul home a larger supply without it melting. He was a problem solver and He was definitely serious about his ice cream. Steve made sure he didn't run short again.
He would make me laugh. He told a story of when he was a kid, beginning with I bet I've told this story hundreds of times, a time when his dad was stopped on the highway while driving a grain truck. His dad talked to the law enforcement officer and when he got back in his truck to leave, put it into the wrong gear and backed into the policeman's car! He had a good laugh, chuckling all the while he was telling me that story. I enjoyed seeing him happy.
He had challenges with his health taking it in stride just doing the best he could, still feeling self conscious about being too slow.
He kept tabs on the boys and what farm work they were doing each day. The farm seems deserted without him there. He worked hard his whole life to give his family what he could. He told Steve at least with farming you always have a job and work to do. I for one am grateful and I feel safe in saying the rest of his family feels the same. Richard will be missed.
Good friends are like stars. You don't always see them, but you
know they are always there.
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