Simple things are best: The Gilbert family
PROGRESS 2018— Near the end of a gravel road in quiet Frog Pond, the Gilbert family relishes their peaceful slice of Franklin County.
Lucas and Kelly Gilbert are both from the area. He grew up on the family farm, adjacent to the farm he and Kelly purchased and have made their own.
They are both teachers in the Franklin County School system, from which they both graduated. Kelly is a Belgreen graduate who teaches physical education at Tharptown Elementary. She also helps coach girls basketball. Lucas is an alum of Phil Campbell, where he now teaches biology and physical science and coaches, and he is also a Frog Pond firefighter.
“I like the kids. Being a P.E. teacher, it’s always their favorite part of the day,” Kelly said. “You do it for the kids. I think that is the only reason anybody would do it: because you care about the kids and want to make a difference in their lives.” She also values the 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. workday, with summers off, which allows her to spend more time with her own children.
The schedule works particularly well for the Gilberts since they are both teachers in the same school system – they get to enjoy the same vacation days. “It works well for having a farm too, having summers off to do hay and fertilizer and spray fields,” Lucas added. They have 80-85 head of cattle, plus a continuing cycle of calves. The farm also boasts a growing orchard of fruit trees.
Lucas and Kelly have two daughters, Addie and Ella, who make the sixth generation on the Gilbert farm.
Farming, Lucas said, is “not for everybody.”
“There’s a lot of hard work that goes into it and patience you have to have,” he said. Farming is a family heritage; he grew up helping his grandfather and eventually took over. “We all enjoy being outside, and I enjoy messing with animals and looking after them. It’s a lot of hard work, but it does pay off. It’s nice when you see things working out.”
Their 220 acres provide plenty of space to relax and have fun. The family is frequently to be found enjoying the outdoors: gardening, playing in the creek, checking on the fruit trees or caring for the cattle. “In the warmer months we stay outside until dark or after dark,” Lucas said. The girls will accompany him in the UTV to keep an eye on everything. “We always make a pass through the cows every day and make sure everything is OK.” His parents, aunt and grandparents are all nearby, so they will also often ride through the pasture to go visit with family.
“We enjoy a slower-paced lifestyle,” Kelly said. “We like the quiet, and it’s pretty out here, especially in the spring and summer. We spend all our time outdoors.”
In addition to playing outside, Addie, 6, and Ella, 3, love baby dolls, dress-up, princesses and coloring. Crafts are a favorite activity at their grandmother’s house, where the girls enjoy spending the night.
“We’re thankful to both have good strong families,” Lucas said. “I can’t ever see myself leaving and moving an hour or two away from everybody … We would miss our extended family.”
The whole family eats lunch at his mother’s house every Sunday – a tradition they have kept up weekly, nearly without fail, since Lucas and Kelly married 10 years ago.
The Gilberts attend nearby Quinn Memorial church of Christ. Aside from being outdoors, they also enjoy spending time together going to high school football games.
Among the four of them, family provides the people with whom they share the strongest bonds.
“You come home every night and do things together, and you grow and change and go through things together,” Lucas said. “There’s good times and bad times and hard times, and when you go through all those things with each other, you develop a history. We’ve been through things together we haven’t been through with anyone else. That makes you grow stronger.”
They prioritize family meals around the dinner table and storytime and prayer together before bed.
“Lifestyles nowadays are so busy that you really have to make time,” Kelly said. “The simple things are the best things – just spending time together and making time for each other.”
