When we were kids, summers were spent at Grandpa's farm, in Emmett Michigan. It wasn't a large farm, just a small retirement farm for Grandpa to putz around on. But to us kids, 10 acres was as big as the whole state. We had a ball as "summer farmers". Grandpa had purchased a 1948 Ford 8N to help with the farming chores. Many a summer day was spend tooling around the farm on that old tractor. Grandma died in 1986 and Grandpa followed a few months later. The family sold the farm and all the equipment including the tractor. But we have many happy memories of those days.
Fast forward 30 years, my wife and I are taking a driving vacation around Michigan. The conversation somehow drifted to Grandpa's farm, as we were not too far from Emmett, my wife suggested we drive by the old farm. I didn't think the farm was even around any more, but we punched in the address on the GPS and drove right to the front door of the old farmhouse. But before we even got to the old driveway, my eyes locked on the sight of Grandpa's old tractor behind the house, next to the old shed. I couldn't believe it! What a sight after all these years. We stopped in the road and looked at it and all the old memories of riding around on that tractor came back. As we drove away, I said that it was too bad we didn't have a camera, so we could take pictures to show my brother and sisters. My wife looked at me and said, "I do have a camera, let's go back." I was afraid it would be intrusive to the people living there, but we decided that we should go to the door and ask first before just taking random pictures of what was now, their property.
As we pulled back into the driveway the lady who lived there was walking out of the door, so it was the perfect opportunity to talk to her. I'm afraid we may have startled her, two strangers walking up the driveway, I explained to her that my family used to own this farm and that we were on a nostalgic journey. She was more than gracious and told us to take as many pictures as we wanted, and to feel free to wander around. Before I realized it, and to my wife's chagrin, I was asking her if she would be interested in selling that old tractor. As luck would have it, she was. Her husband had recently passed away and she was hoping to sell off some farm equipment to make ends meet. We arranged with her to make the purchase and pick up the tractor a few weeks later.
Grandpa bought that tractor in 1948, he had it 36 years, until he died in 1986, the people who bought the farm had it until 2010. Almost 25 years later, Grandpa's tractor came back to the kids who loved it.
Grandpa's tractor still runs as well as ever and roams the fields in it's new home in northern Michigan where is it undergoing restoration work. I can't help but feel, as we drive that old tractor around the property, that Grandpa is still with us, watching, and smiling.
Gregory Koss
Wyandotte, Michigan
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