Some days are better than others
By PAT WICK
© Another Day in the Country
Some days are definitely better than others And, ironically, there's nothing quite so effective as a bad day to bring out the best in country people.
Ramona is a town like all little towns where some folk have too few fascinating things happening in their own lives so they talk a lot about other people. Being in a small puddle leaves only so many topics of conversation. That lack of creativity can begin to get on your nerves.
It was like that this past week. Maybe we've had too much nice weather, one too many meetings or one too many complaints about someone else — whatever, we were getting weary and discouraged.
And then something awful happened! One of our precious mothers in town was critically injured in a car accident on her way to work. Suddenly Ramona was transformed into what it does best — help!
Like my uncle Hank used to say, "Before we had 911, we had each other!" And everyone rallied to the call. Alan was choreographing trips to Wichita, Jessica was planning meals, Kim did guard-duty in the hospital, Tonya started organizing things and opened a bank account for donations, Vicki volunteered to do day-care, Shelia and Chet started straightening things up, and Jeannie is doing a fund-raiser — the whole town pitched in.
It isn't just the folks in town, either. "Don't try and do it all yourself," said Cindy, "we'll help here in Tampa, too."
Our California move-in, whose wife was so badly injured, said, "You know, I've never received so much love as I have in the past two days — in California, I didn't even know my neighbors."
He's right! In big and busy places, people come and go and you barely know their last name, let alone their business. In a small town — even if you want to keep it quiet — everybody knows! It's the beauty and the bane of small town existence.
Today we're experiencing the beauty. People cooperating, pulling together, sharing the load, and they do it so naturally here in the country. It's our calling: Stand by me! We don't know what tomorrow will bring to the residents of Ramona, but today we're busy doing good, thinking positive, and praying for a miracle.
In the midst of it all, there's a lot of gratitude and even a little humor. The youngest in the lot of kids — whose mother is fighting for her life — is an intrepid little guy, whether he's chasing cats, racing his little bike down the street, or running away from his siblings. His stance and his one-liners are memorable. He often hollers at us as we walk by his house on our way to and from the office to deliver some piece of news.
The other day, after we'd brought supper to their house, he came barreling off the front porch, calling "Jess! JESS!" She stopped and he came to a skidding halt in front of her, planted his feet and with hands on his hips looked up at her with his piercing blue eyes through his skewed glasses. "You guys are good cookers!" he said.
It's another day in the country and the "good cookers" all over town are helping their neighbors. If you'd like to help, call Jess at 785-965-7110 or Tonya at 785-366-7409.
