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 Meanwhile, his farmer friends gathered at his farm just west of
Lawrence Curves off Elkhart Blacktop. The goal for the day was to
take out around 130 acres of corn before noon, according to one of
the organizers, Gary McKay. McKay explained how the day came about,
"Rick called me and wanted to know if I would help open up some
fields for him. Of course a couple of the other neighbors saw me
over here and wanted to know what was going on and they offered to
help."
Once the word was out that Rick had had surgery, everybody wanted to
help. "Everybody's happy and willing to help," said McKay. Bill
Benner of Elkhart agreed, "Word of mouth, friends of Rick's, several
guys didn't even know about it (Rick's surgery) but guys just wanted
to get here to help. It wasn't that anybody asked them to be here,
it's just that once the word got out, everyone genuinely wanted to
be here."
Benner noted that there would still be some more corn and the beans
to get out, but basically this day would "take a chunk out of it and
take the pressure of Rick."
 Along with organizers McKay and Benner, Jason Byrne was also one of
the first to arrive Monday morning at Empty Pocket Farms, the name
Rick and his wife, Vickie chose for their farm when they were first
married. Vickie, who also arrived at the farm early, had nothing but
praise for Byrne and called him a "workaholic" and a "sweetheart."
Byrne also works for Rick during the busy times of the year.
The father and son teams of Bart and Max Rhodes, and Nubs (Danny)
and Nibs (Nathaniel) Gieseke also took time out of their day to
offer their services. Nearby neighbor Larry Bobell even brought his
John Deere over to help combine corn. In the midst of all this,
Marvin Beard arrived from Patterson Bros. Gas-Oil to fuel up the big
tank, having rearranged his schedule to get to Empty Pocket Farms
early.
Gary McKay's brother, Glen, also pitched in to help while Steve
Urish and Tom Croft from Elkhart Fertilizer rounded out the early
morning crew that supported the efforts of four combines
complemented by tractors with grain carts running through the field.
Semis parked by the bins completed the impressive operation, all of
which had Vickie a little overwhelmed with emotion.
As the volunteer team gathered for a group photo before going to the
field, tears began to stream down her face as she tried to get a
picture with her phone to send to Rick in the hospital.
About Rick's stint, no pun intended, in the hospital, here's how
that came about. One day about a month ago after cleaning out a
grain bin on a hot 95 degree day, Rick went home not feeling well.
Vickie knew something was not right when he was white as a ghost,
but tough guy Rick assured his wife that evening he was fine. The
next day, however, Rick decided to go to the doctor while Vickie was
babysitting grandkids. That was the beginning of tests, which at
first came back fine. Shortly thereafter Rick was having some chest
pains so the doctor scheduled a stress test and Rick flunked it,
according to Vickie. She said the doctors sent him home with nitro
at first and from there the doctors decided to do cardiac
catheterization to determine the amount of blockage. They initially
planned on doing a stint but they quickly learned the stint would
not work since tests found he had 100 percent, 99 percent and 90
percent blockages in the three main arteries.
Upon learning that Rick would have a triple bypass heart surgery in
his near future the couple experienced all the things you would
expect. "Then there was every emotion," said Vickie. "This became
really real in a hurry." Vickie candidly admitted that they were
both "anxious about farming, anxious about work and anxious about
the children." Vickie and Rick have been married nearly 40 years and
in addition to being a life-long farmer, Rick is Vice President, Ag
Loan Officer of Town and Country Bank in Lincoln. They also have two
married children and four grandchildren.
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Always a team going through this journey of life together, Vickie said, "So then
we went through the whole gamut of, oh my goodness, there is so much I need to
tell you and so many tears that followed. All natural and normal but at the same
time so overwhelming."
As the weeks went by and Rick waited for surgery, Vickie admitted the couple had
a lot of time to think and grow increasingly anxious. Finally last Wednesday,
Rick had successful open heart surgery but not before one more moment that made
the man nervous. As Vickie drove him to the hospital at 5:30 a.m. the morning of
the surgery, she recalled, "Rick is not doing well and I know he's not. He's
white as a ghost and he had his hand over his heart and he's kinda leaning over
towards the driver, me. He's saying all the sentimental things that go with this
day....of how much he loves me...things I need to know....things about our
children...and heartfelt sentimental things." As Vickie herself grew more
anxious she knew she just had to get him to the hospital. She admits she ran a
red light on North Grand and even missed a turn and had to circle back around
towards the hospital, where she almost missed the turn again.
When they finally arrived safely at the parking lot, she asked an
anxious-looking Rick, "Are you scared of the surgery?" He said, "No, Vickie. No
really I think I'm not afraid of heart surgery anymore because I think if I was
going to die today you would have killed my ___on the way here." They both
started laughing hard at that moment and like she says, "That's how we started
our journey into heart surgery." Walking into admissions they were both laughing
and the security guard even said, "You two are happy." Rick answered cheerfully,
"Well, I am getting a triple bypass today," which prompted the surprised
security guard to say, "You're taking it really well." You know they do say
"laughter is the best medicine."
And if anyone knows Rick and Vickie personally, you know they both have a
fun-loving sense of humor. Now nearly a week later, Rick is doing well from the
surgery and is still in the hospital. The doctors have anticipated a 10-day stay
which means for now the only harvest of his crop he will see is in pictures and
on video.
Vickie said that Jason and Gary had started harvest last week and took pictures
for Rick to see as he recovered from surgery. "They started harvesting in the
bottom and they sent pictures and one was a little video. I'm telling you that
was his happiest moment in the hospital. He took that phone and he watched that
video. He was between this great big Harbarger smile and tears running down his
cheeks," she said smiling. "He's overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and
caring."
Finally at the end of the workday, it was Elkhart Grain providing lunch to the
volunteer crew. That lunch featured Randy Twyford's BBQ, and incidentally
Elkhart Grain is offering lunch to its customers on Mondays during Harvest. Good
people doing good things all the way around Logan County.
[Teena Lowery] |
