[Laneco]

When I was a child, my mother, younger brother and I traveled from California to Pennsylvania. This was in about 1973. We had a 1949 two and half ton GMC stock truck with horses loaded inside and pulled a small horse trailer behind it (17 horses total, 3 people in the cab).

The truck began to run abyssmally while crossing mountains. I remember grinding up the hills so slowly that roadside rabbits were running faster than the truck could go.

By the time we got to the farmlands in the midwest, something was terribly wrong with that big gaspot engine. It began smoking omininously and somewhere in Iowa, in the midst of a sea of cornfields, the engine exploded violently and we lurched to the side of the interstate.

3 people, 17 horses, no cell phone and just enough gas money to make Pennsylvania. Forget about repairs. Mom had a meltdown and just sat on the berm wailing. Fella in a tow truck slows down, then stops ahead of us. He sits there a minute and then backs up. Mom yells at him "keep going, I don't have any money." Fellah says, "yeah I know," and hooks up.

He took the whole load of us to his house. His wife greeted us like long lost friends. We unloaded the horses at their farm. Stayed there a week while he fixed the truck. Mom gave up $300 for the repairs, he said that was enough. Bull****. Trust me, that didn't even cover parts, even in 1973.

A family of complete strangers opened their door to three people they had never met and 17 horses and wouldn't take a dime for their hospitality.

I fell in love with the kind people of Iowa. Just telling me you're from Iowa puts a smile on my face.

Life is short. Pay it forward.
angela