There are times I have to defend my upbringing, where I live and or even why I still live here and each time I proudly speak up for my rural upbringing and my choice to stay in ND! I do it with pride in being raised in a community of and by people who support each other. Is it ONLY in North Dakota where you find this? No, but I feel like it's easier to do here because people take time to get to know each other.
Point in case, my brother and his family are going through some tough times right now. My nephew, who was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis in the spring of 1987 at just a few months old, has now reached that point where he is on the double lung transplant list. Tough thing to get your head around as a family member, but my job as aunt and sister is to support them, love them and pray. I got that!
Their local community, upon finding out the news, jumped into action. Within hours a fund raiser was planned and people started to work on how they can support my nephew on his path. And not just that one community, but the surrounding communities have also become involved in helping with this event.
My sister-in-law has used the word "humbling" and it really is that, but it's also how people were and are raised here. Someone gets hurt in a farming accident, the neighbors get together to bring the crop in. Someone loses their home in a fire, the community shows up to bring what they need to get them safely into their next home and on with their lives. A family loses their barn and the community shows up on a Sunday afternoon to build a new one.
How do I know all these things? Because each of them either happened to me or someone in my family and the community came together to help in all of the situations. So, while I keep going, I am also glad to be able to keep coming home to this place I call home and my community of communities that make it all worthwhile.
Point in case, my brother and his family are going through some tough times right now. My nephew, who was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis in the spring of 1987 at just a few months old, has now reached that point where he is on the double lung transplant list. Tough thing to get your head around as a family member, but my job as aunt and sister is to support them, love them and pray. I got that!
Their local community, upon finding out the news, jumped into action. Within hours a fund raiser was planned and people started to work on how they can support my nephew on his path. And not just that one community, but the surrounding communities have also become involved in helping with this event.
My sister-in-law has used the word "humbling" and it really is that, but it's also how people were and are raised here. Someone gets hurt in a farming accident, the neighbors get together to bring the crop in. Someone loses their home in a fire, the community shows up to bring what they need to get them safely into their next home and on with their lives. A family loses their barn and the community shows up on a Sunday afternoon to build a new one.
How do I know all these things? Because each of them either happened to me or someone in my family and the community came together to help in all of the situations. So, while I keep going, I am also glad to be able to keep coming home to this place I call home and my community of communities that make it all worthwhile.
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