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Carl says even those who work remotely enjoy coming to the farm .
“ We have those with fifth-wheel campers who have sold their home and travel , and they work remotely . They love it here .”
April adds that they ’ re not looking to be a tourist attraction . “ We just want to provide a place for families to come .”
Gratitude mindset The recurring theme when talking to Carl and April is one of openly heartfelt gratitude for what they feel are God ’ s blessings .
Carl was born on his family ’ s farm in Renick , W . Va . His early days as a farmer included renting land from others and then purchasing steers in the fall . “ They ’ d be weighing 300-400 pounds and by the time I ’ d turn them out in the spring , they ’ d be weighing between 850 and 900 pounds and ready to sell .”
Over the years , Carl built a friendship with his neighbor Don King . One day , King told Carl he was ready to quit .
“ But I know he didn ’ t want to ,”
Carl says . “ So , we ended up going into partners .”
Carl bought King ’ s cows and later that year , in October , King died of a massive heart attack .
“ I kept farming it . In 2016 his wife Suzanne had a stroke . When she got out , she said , ‘ I want to surprise you , but I can ’ t . We need to go to the lawyer .’ She said she was giving me from the barn up and all the pasture .”
In 2018 , “ She gave it to me ,” he says , still sounding surprised . At that moment he was in stunned silence . “ I didn ’ t know what to say , except , ‘ Thank you .”
For Carl , Don and Suzanne King were like another dad and mom .
“ We was close . And when Don and I were partners , I would always ask him before I did anything to make sure it was all right to do it .”
While parking cars at church one Sunday in June , he met April , who was just passing through to visit her daughter . “ She sat three rows in front of me .”
He invited her out to the farm , and the short version of the story is , they got stuck in the mud . “ I thought ,
she ’ ll never be back again ,” he recalls . “ I was just passing through , but God had a different plan ,” April says . “ I just couldn ’ t shake him .
A working couple “ I deliver the meat ,” says April . “ There are a lot of elderly people that don ’ t have cars . I take beef to them . My husband and I look to be full service because how else can people get out and do things if they don ’ t have a vehicle ?” She tutors children and serves as
“ Granny Nanny .”
And they run the farm . Just the two of them . “ I just keep plugging along ,” Carl says matter-of-factly . “ I enjoy it . If you don ’ t enjoy it , it ’ s just like any other job . If you don ’ t enjoy it , you just work there .” He loves every part of farming . “ We had one [ cow ] having trouble giving birth . We put her in the head shoot . She wasn ’ t feeling good . I told April , ‘ You ’ re going to have to help me .’ We were both pulling . I went down , she went down . It was like dominos . It was funny .”
April says people would be surprised by the amount of work it takes
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