I find I am drawn to people with great big hearts, people who work hard and love. Carol Gulley is a friend, she calls herself a farmer’s wife, but she is a farmer. She and her husband Ed are our good friends, and they always – always – invite us to gather with their family on holidays.

In part this is because we enjoy one another’s company, in part I think Carol takes pity on us because we must seem like orphans to her, family is so central to her life, and we really have no family around us. When we visit, we do feel like family, Carol is at the center of a giant web of family – Ed, children, grandchildren, all always nearby.

Today we sat in her house, kids and grandkids everywhere, and we felt so at home. Family gatherings are not easy for us.

We love the Gulleys, a great gift to us, and I am in awe or their wonderful blog. Check it out, it is the most authentic and true blog I know. And it is very popular, it turns out these two farmers are natural and enthusiastic writers. If you want to know what it like to be a farmer, this is better than E.B. White.

Carol works so hard but never runs out of sweet. She and I met in Cardiac Rehab, running on our treadmills. She is also a student in my writing class.

Today she is recovering from being kicked and knocked down by a cow, Carol and Ed are stoics, they are hurting all the time in one way or another. Carol is about love, farm, family, work and although she is shy about being photographed, she is a wonderful subject, the emotion in her always shows up in her face.