Help!

Our daughter married a wonderful man seven years ago in a beautiful wedding in our little church.  What many people didn't know is that the groom probably didn't know much about the day.  All summer leading up to the wedding he had been suffering with severe back pain. As the big day approached his back just got worse and worse.  At one point I told him that if we needed to we could just prop him up on a refrigerator dolly and roll him down the aisle.  During one party our doctor pulled me off to the side and told me that he probably needed to have surgery immediately just from what she had observed that night.  He made it through the wedding but we won't talk about whether he really knew where he was.

Soon after they returned to the farm in Iowa he was scheduled for surgery.  Our daughter had grown up dealing with cattle and she assured him that she could handle the cattle chores if his brother and father could cover the crops.  There probably isn't anyone in the world who is as frustrated as a farmer that has to lay in bed and watch someone else deal with his chores.  His new bride proved to be as good as her word, dealing with the feeding with few problems.  That is until one day.....

The last group of cattle to be fed each day was a pen of young bulls just below the front yard.  She loaded up the four seven-gallon buckets with feed and hoisted them into the back of the four wheeler cart to take it to the bulls.  Normally, her hubby would have only used two buckets but because she couldn't carry two fully loaded buckets she had spread the load out.  She pulled up to the gate which opened into the yard.  She grabbed two buckets and carried them into the lot to dump them in the feed trough, fully expecting the calves to follow her to the feed.  Now, as I have mentioned before, young males of all species like to play around and cause trouble.  These were no exception.  Instead of following her deeper into the lot they decided to check out what was on the cart in the yard.  Before she could stop them they had trooped out to investigate. Once they were out they kicked up their heels and decided to play. 

The problem was there is no fence around the yard and they were heading for the highway.  She tried to circle around but they just danced out of the way, getting further away from the pen.  She tried leading them in with the buckets of feed, but they were having too much fun.  A little germ of panic began to glow.  After a few minutes she decided that she needed help.  Running to the house she got on the 2-way radio that they used to communicate with the tractors in the field and called her father-in-law to come help.  He replied that he would be there as fast as he could and to just hang on until he got there.

What she didn't know is that the radio was broadcasting to anyone with a receiver on the correct settings.  Her quivering voice must have hit a chord with everyone who was listening because soon the cavalry started to arrive.  First on the scene was the UPS truck who had been delivering just up the road and heard the call for help.  He slid to a stop and leaped out.  Right on his heels came a neighbor who had been in his tractor and just left it standing in the field to come to the rescue.  Following him came the feed truck from the local farm supply who was on his way to a delivery.  Last but not least, came her father-in-law.  While the others gathered up the wayward bulls he walked up to her and just enveloped her in a big hug.  My strong, independent daughter promptly burst into tears.

Then they all trooped into the house to treat hubby to the details of the rescue over a plate of cookies.

It's nice to know chivalry is not dead.