Re-Post: Goodbye Old Bridge

I've posted this before, but it turned out to be premature. This morning we slid our way across a dark and frost-covered bridge. Then, we finally said goodbye. The bridge crew is planning to remove it this morning. Farmer John and I will be at work and not there to see it go. Which might be for the best considering it's an emotional event for the farm. 

John and I have been walking across this bridge together for 5+ years. In that time, we've made some memories and need to say goodbye.

We've walked across the bridge on beautiful spring days. We've also walked across the bridge in pouring, pounding, torrential rain. We've walked across the bridge when the air was crisp in the fall. We've also walked across the bridge on frigid days in the sleet and snow.

We've re-decked the bridge. We've painted the bridge. We've shoveled the bridge. We've hung electric wire from one end to the other. We've done major construction to make sure the bridge didn't fall down. We’ve decorated the bridge at Christmas.

We’ve carried our lives across the bridge. This includes: all of Mollie’s possessions after college, all of Farmer John’s possessions after college, all of Migrant Farm-Hand Becky’s possessions, the majority of all the food we’ve eaten in 5+ years, the majority of all the beer we’ve consumed in 5+ years, all our luggage and Christmas presents for trips to Illinois, our kitchen table and Mollie’s wedding dress.

We’ve also carried animals across the bridge. This includes: Coco after two different ACL surgeries, several kittens, a flock of ducklings, 7 Australorp chickens in a dog cage and 1 blind calf.

We weren’t the only ones walking across the bridge. Our families and friends have crossed the bridge. Our neighbors have crossed the bridge. The FedEx and UPS delivery folks have crossed the bridge. Utility workers, loggers and gasline right-of-way agents have crossed the bridge. In all that time, one person fell through, one person fell off and one person had a panic attack. Everyone survived with just a couple scratches.

Perhaps most importantly, Farmer John’s family walked across that bridge. Nanny and Pap carried more than us. They saw harsher weather than us. They probably even had some funnier stories to tell than us. It’s because of them that we are on the farm today. And it’s because of them and their family that we will say goodbye to the walking bridge and welcome the driving bridge. I hope that they’d be just as excited as we are.