I met Carol Gulley in cardiac rehab at a hospital in Bennington, Vt., we were both walking on adjoining treadmills. The meeting changed both of our lives. Carol is one of those amazing people who are so self-effacing, modest and shy that you can miss the very wild and crazy side of her.

Watching her care for her husband of more than four decades is a lesson in love and dedication and empathy, she feels every single thing he feels, good or bad. Carol is a friend, and also a student in my writing class, she writes very well, as readers of the Bejosh Farm Journal know well.

Like Ed, animals are woven all through her life, she talks to them, loves them, invites many of them into her house. As I stood outside the door tonight, a Peacock went rushing by, a goat named Sadie was bleating by the barn, four (five?) big shaggy dogs were lounging around the house and the years, and two calves were waiting for Carol to come out and play with them.

Two cats were inside.

At the usual time, about 5:30, Ethel the hen came trotting by to come into the house to say goodnight to Ed, or to Carol. “Come on in, Ethel,” Carol says in her high-pitched animal voice, and Ed, if he is awake, yells out a greeting to Ethel.

Ethel marches into the side room of the house, where Ed’s hospital bed is, clucks and squawks a bit, gets a treat from Carol, and then marches out to her special place in the barn. Ethel, you see, is a member of the family, as all of the animals are, including Oz, the very talkative Cockatiel who listens to Yankee baseball games with Ed, and offers his own commentary.

Carol is carrying a staggering load on her shoulders with grace, love and even some humor. I see that the animals lift her  up. Every day, she goes out to the barn to play with the two new calves. They can’t wait to see her.

Farmers are often plagued by regulators and know-nothing animal rights ideologues, but if you know most farmers, you see right away that they are the world’s greatest animal lovers. That is because they live with animals, they don’t just sign petitions about them.

I’ve had chickens for 15 years and I never once thought to have one come into the kitchen every day to say good night. Carol doesn’t even know it’s unusual. I am very grateful for that treadmill in the rehab  center.

Carol is almost all heart, and it needs to be healthy and strong.