StoneBridge Farm

A Little Bit of History

Hello. I thought that I might give you all a little bit of history on our family.

My name is Lori McDole. I am married to a wonderful and patient man, Timothy. We have been married for almost 15 years. We have 4 very energetic children. We are from a very small city in Southeastern Ohio. We moved to the country 2 years ago, needing a drastic change from city life. Granted, I know it wasn’t Los Angeles… but city life is city life, and country life is LIVING!

Anyway, Tim was a fry cook when I met him. He took his turn at nursing and hated it, got his CDL…. couldn’t stand re-introducing himself to our then 6 month old… this is when we moved to Cutler. We decided at that time that we had enough money coming in that he could stay home and run the farm. Now, I was a cashier when I met Tim… Yes, we both worked at Hardees. Ah, love in a fast food joint.   Anyway… I had just graduated from high school. I went on to get an Associate Degree in Elementary Education, then a Bachelor degree in Graphic design. This last degree put me back in fast food for 3 more years. Then I dabbled in Real Estate and got a certificate in it. We thought it would help us enter the rental business. Yeah, high hopes… hmm, well all it got us was an apartment behind our house, 3 crappy slums, and $56,000 in debt we can’t shake even after selling the rentals. Then, again working fast food I kept looking for something else to do. Every time we opened the paper it was nursing, nursing, nursing… so, when in Rome. That is when we got our LPN licenses. Ahh the wonderful world of nursing. Feeling fulfilled for doing for others, bonding with your patients, knowing that what you are doing is making a difference and filling a void in the shortage of nurses.. WHAT???!!!! Oh my! Reality check: wiping the worst smelling  stuff off peoples backsides, trying not to vomit while cleaning up other peoples vomit, having half-crazed patients refer to you as,”The Great Whore of Babylon”(that last one wasn’t me… but I was there that night), getting unknown stuff flung at you, getting bit, getting smacked by an old man because you are trying to get the maggots HE PUT in his leg out, and then there was the quieter times…death, dying, and thumping on peoples chests. And when you did all you could and you were worn out and thought the night ended on an ok note…. you get wrote up for not putting “late entry” on a chart. Don’t get me wrong… it takes a special kind of person to be a nurse… I do miss some things, like holding a patients hand as they pass away, bringing food to a patients bed when the family just can’t leave, or starting IV’s… yeah, that’s the good stuff. I was actually quite good at that. I am going to research and hopefully attend Parish Nurse classes soon. This is the kind of nursing I believe that I could make the biggest difference in someones life. Basically it is free nursing care to people who can’t afford it, or can’t get out. It is usually sponsored by a local church. 

OK, so obviously I quit my job as a nurse… but only after my hair started falling out from stress and we decided to step out on faith and run our farm fulltime. So far so good. We are having the time of our lives. There is stress, but it is different. I also take heart in the thought that God placed us in nursing for a reason. My mother always asks me what I’m gonna do when I grow up,(e’hem… I am 34), but I see these life experiences as training. God wanted me to learn certain things. He has began a good work in all of us. It is blind faith that keeps us strong! Faith is everything! Without it, I would be surely lost! Everyday I praise God for all he has given us. How else do you explain a family of 6 with no one employed outside the home making their monthly bills and buying what we need, (not to mention the HUGE house payment)… Praise God for all that he has done! 

Thanks for visiting and God Bless You!

Lori

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