The Empty Barn That Held Everything

Martin Edsel planted his last seeds in April 1988 with borrowed money and a prayer. By August, the Iowa fields that had fed his family for three generations had turned to cracked, gray dust. The corn never came. The soybeans withered before they set a pod. When the bank called in October, Martin walked out to his empty barn, sat down in the straw, and did the only thing he could think to do.…