BARB SHARES HER STORY

Someday if you find yourself driving through the vast flat farmland of central Illinois with its cornfields and beanfields seemingly spread out all the way to the horizon, you might ask yourself, “Who does that?”

The answer of course is farm families like Barb and her husband and their offspring, who own and operate farms that have been in their family for generations.

“One of our farms is a Centennial Farm,” Barb explains. “Some go back in my family to the 1860s. We’ve farmed for over 50 years, and this is my husband’s final year. Our son is taking over the operation.” If you’re counting, that’s a whole lot of plowing, cultivating, planting, fertilizing, and harvesting. “And farming is always a gamble,” she adds, “especially with the weather and years when there’s too little rain and years when there’s too much.”

Barb has always been a key part of the whole enterprise. “I always had to do the parts runs,” she says. “Anytime they had a breakdown or a problem with the machinery, I was the one that would go to an implement dealer, whether it was one that was close to about eight miles away or another one that’s about 30, so while they were working on stuff, getting ready for this part, I went and got it.”

She adds, “And I hauled meals and lunches and that sort of thing, but I quit a couple years ago, and now with him retiring I’ll be doing a normal life.” Which is to say, Barb is keeping busy. “We try to eat fairly healthy, and as far as exercise goes, this time of year I’m busy enough, pulling weeds and stuff but I consider that exercise. And other than that, I can’t say that we really have an exercise program or anything.”

As if all the work around the farm wasn’t enough to do, she found the time and energy to help others. “My kids always laughed and said that if the job paid their mom wouldn’t take it. I’ve been an EMT for many years and I worked with the local ambulance service, and I cooked funeral dinners for years. I’m the type of person I couldn’t be tied down to any one thing.”

With all the things on her to-do list, Barb has always been alert to how her memory is working, and about a year ago she began to notice some slippage in her own memory, as can happen with age. “I started taking Prevagen because I was having trouble remembering things and it helped an awful lot,” she says, adding an anecdote to how Prevagen has indeed helped her.

“One of the things I like most about Prevagen is the way I feel it has quieted my brain a bit,” she reports. “I feel more confident so I’m not constantly wondering if I shut a light off or did I lay bacon out to thaw for breakfast and forget to put it in the fridge.”

For this farm wife nearing retirement after a lifetime of constant work and doing things for her family and others, a little peace of mind is a good thing.