Farmers Stay Silent During Auction So Young Man Can Win the Bid on His Long-Lost Family Farm
“I’ve had two days that really made me feel humble. The first was when my son was born. The second was the day I’ll never forget at the Auction House.”
This is what David, who was part of a session I led, said when I asked the group: “When did you set a big goal in your life and didn’t know how to make it happen?”
Many years ago, before David was even born, a part of their family’s farm in Nebraska, about eighty acres, was given to a far-off relative in a will. David’s family were farmers for many generations, and he grew up hearing this story repeatedly. It sparked something in him, a strong desire to reunite the farm and make it whole once more.
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In 2011, David and his family got some surprising news: the special eighty acres of their farm was going to be sold at an auction in just a couple of weeks. Suddenly, David, who was in his twenties, had to figure out how to get a lot of money. “Even though I always dreamed of getting the land back, when the day came, I wasn’t ready,” David said. But he knew he had to try his hardest. So, for two weeks, he and his dad worked really hard, planning and coming up with ideas. They finally decided on the highest amount they could offer and went to the auction.
When they went into the Auction House that evening, they felt really disappointed right away. There were more than 200 farmers there, many with bigger farms and more money than David and his dad. They knew these other farmers could easily outbid them. The auctioneer started the bidding and asked for the first offer. David and his dad looked at each other, took a deep breath, and made their bid. The auctioneer noticed their offer and then asked for another bid.
Silence fell over the room.
Despite trying several times to get another bid, the auctioneer couldn’t find one. They took breaks three times, but each time, the room stayed quiet. Eventually, the auctioneer had to admit that David and his dad had won the bid. David and his dad were shocked and amazed—their family farm was whole again.
David’s face showed so much emotion as he told us the story, and we were all captivated, leaning in to hear every detail. When he finished, I asked him what he thought had happened at the Auction House that night. Without hesitation, he looked at me with even more emotion and said, “Respect.”
Just like the farmers at the Auction House, we sat quietly for a while, thinking about what David had said. My first thought was, “That’s it, that’s another example of what’s good in our world—community.”
Lots of people are busy gathering stories about what’s going wrong in our world. But me? I want to collect stories like this one—the ones that show there’s a lot more going right out there than wrong.
You know that saying, “If we believe it, we’ll see it”? Well, I think it’s not just true for David and his farm, but also for all of us when we pay attention to the good things happening in the world.
Since 1997, Lauri Gwilt has been helping people all over North America understand how their thoughts affect their lives. She works on The Habit of Celebration, an online course from the Celebrate What’s Right project, which she co-created with former National Geographic Photographer, Dewitt Jones.
Plant Some Positivity And Share What’s Right With Your Friends – Photo by Lauri Gwilt
