Jesse and Grandpa’s Tractor Time

When my Grandson, Jesse, was less than a year old he began to ride with me on our tractors, and you could see the smile show his joy in anything tractor. He was born with a heart issue and spent a lot of time in and out of the hospital, but when he came home he was ready for a tractor ride.

We had a Kubota cab tractor, John Deere skid steer, Farmall H, and I bought a Farmall Cub just for him. He loved to work on the tractors, fix flat tires, and bush hog the pastures. Every Friday at the end of a long work week, I would get a cold beer, Jesse would get a Root Beer and we would ride the tractors, he called it Tractor Beer Friday. This became a tradition that I will always cherish because Jesse passed away recently at 4 ½ years old from a ruptured artery.

He may not physically be with me but he is always riding with me on the Farmall Cub, observing Tractor Beer Friday.

Thomas R. Shirley
Pendleton, South Carolina


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