The Beauty of Orange Truck

My brother passed in June of last year after a 2 month battle with pancreatic cancer.

If you've been here for a while, you probably have read some of the other things I've written about it.  

One of the bright spots during his sickness was making hay on the farm the last Memorial Day weekend.

 On a beautiful Friday, 15 of his buddies showed up with tractors, bailers, rakes, skid steers, trailers and rollback trucks, and they made 239 bales of hay and got it in the barn in about four hours.

 It was a testament to their love for my brother.

 I got to cook for the guys along with my mom and sister-in-law, my niece and my daughter.

 They took the time away from their own haymaking at their own farms to be with my brother and listen to his tales.

He felt good that day. He was energized by all the love.

He laughed and smiled and told stories.

With these men it was a happy day in the midst of a hard time.

My brother loved farming and semi-trucks.

He was in the process of rebuilding his Semi when he was first diagnosed.

He gave clear instructions, "I want WT to have the truck."

WT is a young man that my brother knew, and he has always loved that truck.

So, WT found a way to buy the truck, which was basically in pieces since my brother couldn't finish the rebuild.

The engine was in the truck, and it had been freshly painted the bright orange my brother loved.

But there was still much to be done.

WT picked up the interior dash, cables, seats, all the components needed to put the truck back together in two pickup truck loads.

He had to connect the engine and brake lines, add all of the Chrome.

Chrome and lights were an obsession for my brother, so there was a lot of it.

When I met WT at the shop to help load his pickup with the parts, I liked him immediately.

He seemed unflappable in the face of all of the work ahead to rebuild that semi.

He was full of excitement and eagerness for what was to come.

That was on July 31st of last year and last month I got to see the beautiful sight of the orange truck driving into the barnyard on our family farm.

WT had come to load the hay made last year onto a flatbed trailer.

One of my brother's friends had orchestrated the sale of the hay to a local farmer who donated it and paid for the fuel for it to be delivered to the farmers in the North Carolina mountains. 

These farmers lost their hay in Hurricane Helene.

I smile through the tears to see my brother's impact on people in need.

Love continues to be  delivered in his orange truck by his chosen man.

In these moments, I am again grateful that my business and my team were set up to run usual while I completely stepped away.

Life is short, build your business to work for you.

Reach out today and let us help you make the plan to get started.

Cyndi