The Long Walk

By Brent Searle

George grew up in a midwestern small town. He is a typical 18 year old young man, caught up in the draft to WWII. His assignment is training of German Shepherd dogs. During his three year stint in the military, George becomes friends with Mike and their friendship transcends subsequent years, helping each find strength in the other. After the war, George marries and adopts a child. In a tragic accident that links George to someone in his past, his wife and daughter are killed. The driver of the car comes to his house. The agonizing emotions and challenge of a lifetime crush him to nearly give up on life. His story, told in this ebook, is based on the true-life character of George, and the encounter the author has with him as George, now nearly 70, and too poor to purchase a bus ticket, is hitchhiking to visit his friend Mike, who is dying of cancer in a Seattle, WA hospital.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brent Searle
• Release date: Nov 16, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301397495

Brent Searle

About the Author Brent Searle grew up on his parent’s family farm near Shelley, Idaho. With that unique experience — only 1 percent of the US population now makes their living on farms — Brent proceeded to earn Bachelor degrees in Agriculture Economics and International Relations, with a minor in Japanese and an emphasis in nutrition from Brigham Young University. Later, he added a Graduate Certificate in Public Administration from Willamette University, Salem, Oregon. Brent worked for a U.S. Congressman in Washington, D.C. for four years covering agriculture and natural resource issues. Then he worked for the Oregon Department of Agriculture for nearly 22 years in agriculture policy and economics work. The author is passionate about agriculture, gardening, family, music (trumpet instrumental in particular), his faith, and helping others. See Brent’s Pinterest page: http://pinterest.com/dadspad2/

Book preview

The Long Walk

Based on the True Story of an Old Man’s Trek of More Than 2,000 Miles to See His Dying Friend

Published by Brent Searle at Smashwords

Copyright 2012, Brent Searle

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Epilogue: Lessons I Learned from George

About the Author

Other Publications and Initiatives by the Author

Chapter One

The sunset spread streaks of gold and purple through the cumulous clouds in the western sky. The waves of wheat lined the road on either side, running to the mountains on the distant right, and fading into the sunset on the left. The August evening was finally becoming tolerable as the sun evaporated into the horizon.

The wheat is ready for harvest, I thought to myself.

I had just finished finals for the summer semester; perhaps the reason for my feeling the summer had passed so quickly. This summer I didn’t stay on the farm to help. I pushed ahead with my studies to complete college as soon as possible. Before the fall semester began I would go home for two weeks and help with grain harvest.

The evening dimmed and I turned on the car lights. The reflector posts monotonously passed in succession, courteously guarding the edge of the country freeway.

I welcomed the peaceful change of environment from the grueling pace of books and research, lectures and papers. As I looked far ahead down the freeway to the vanishing point, I let my mind wander. I needed the four-hour drive to adapt myself from the interior of the classrooms to the open fields of the family farm. But I knew the two-week reprieve from classes would be no vacation, only a diversion. Farm life is demanding, rigorous, and uncertain. From March to November the work schedule begins at 4 or 5 a.m. and continues until dark. Little time for leisure.

But the fun is not absent. I recalled the times my brothers and sister and I would swing from a long rope into the canal after hauling hay or irrigating in the hot summer sun. Or, we would float the canal on six-foot tall tractor inner tubes; or go horse riding in the evening with the family. These were fond memories.

Of course there were also memories of long, long days spent plowing, planting, cultivating, hoeing rows and rows of sugar beets, moving irrigation pipes, swathing the alfalfa, bailing and hauling the dry, itchy hay; branding and vaccinating the calves, repairing machinery, harvesting the grain and potatoes, and the list goes on.

These were activities that generated callused hands, weathered skin, and a strong work ethic. Experiencing these demanding tasks along side my parents also produced in me a great sense of respect for their country-side generosity, for their commitment to the earth and its resources, for their feelings of stewardship with animals, for their resounding ability to stay with the farm year after year in spite of the droughts, diseases, and financial burdens. I was grateful for these character-building experiences during my growing up years. But I must admit. I had mixed feelings about doing it for a living, and I