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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] |
