John Deere

As we are packing up Brandon's Grandma's house, we are finding all sorts of treasures. Here are some of the highlights we have found so far.

Brandon's Great-Grandfather moved to the United States from Crete. We have found some of his old Greek books, including an old mining regulation book that is written in five different languages. We also found a musical instrument (we think it is a mandolin) that came with him from Crete.

Brandon's Grandma still has her bouquet and napkins from her wedding in 1960. There were also several corsages in the box from the celebrations.

Brandon's Granddad loved to play golf, and was quite good I think. We have found several pairs of his golf shoes, along with his set of golf clubs that he played with.

Brandon has been talking about his Granddad's John Deere riding lawn mower since the moment we started talking about bringing things home. He loves this tractor. This was about the first thing Brandon was ever allowed to drive by himself.

There is one story that is told the most about the mower. Brandon's Granddad took the mower to a repair shop to be fixed. The repair shop was going to charge him quite a bit of money to deliver the mower to the house after it was fixed. So instead, he drove the mower home...two miles on the city streets of Odessa. Brandon was visiting at the time and he rode his bike down the street to meet his Granddad with the mower. His Granddad and him switched rides and he got to drive the mower back the last three blocks. He was probably about nine or ten, and this has been an awesome memory for him ever since.

All it took was a new battery and a little cleaning and the mower started right up...

Brandon immediately started mowing the front lawn. Madison came out to join him and went on her first tractor ride with her Daddy.



She even got to "drive" it herself. The picture didn't turn out very well but it was precious.

Well I suppose I should get back to work...We are about half way through our stay in Texas, and still have a lot to pack.