Community

My entire life I have been raised to cherish the community surrounding me.  From the small community of farmers in my nearby neighborhood to the larger community of the entire town and county surrounding my home.  I was raised on a small farm in a community where my dad was raised and my dad's mom was raised.  The larger community included where my dad's mom's family had lived for years and where my mom's family was from as well.  

The smaller community involves farmers that graduated from high school with my grandma to youth members that I have grown up friends with.  We all know that the members of the community are there whenever the need arises.  If someone in the community is in need, the rest of the community rallies around and helps to the best of their ability.  I have witnessed this multiple times in my life.  The first time that I really witnessed this was when I was four years old.  It was during January 2000, that our community was a part of a terrible tragedy.  My grandmother was killed in a car wreck at the end of our county road.  The community rallied around my grandpa, my parents, aunt, and uncle as they tried to make the best of a horrible situation.  Members of the community took time to cook and serve the family during this time.  Some of the farmers helped take care of the livestock and helped feed hay while the funeral and other things were going on.  Once the funeral was over they didn't stop, they stood by our family and continue to be there if something happens.  

We witnessed the pride in community again this spring when my great uncle had a massive heart attack and nearly died multiple times.  The community was there to help take care of his house and daughter while his wife was at the hospital with him for over a month.  They planted flowers in one of his flowerbeds when he was going to get to drive by the house on his way from the hospital to rehabilitation.  Members of the community helped to find a van and wheelchair to transport him from the hospital in Columbia to the rehab center hundreds of miles away in order to save my aunt thousands of dollars for the ambulance.  He has since come home and they continue to help him out.  

We come together to celebrate as well. Each of the neighbors were considered like family as I was growing up.  I had more "aunts" and "uncles" than anyone could think about having.  I guess you could say that I have been blessed to be raised in a community that cares and comes together in time of need.