We had many animals out on the farm, such as dogs, numerous cats, cows and chickens, but before we had the milk cows, we had a horse farm filled with about 80 purebred horses. My sister, brother, and I would go with our countless number of cousins and go sledding in the winter, help my dad farm in the spring, and get all the guys together, and sometimes me if they wanted to, and go hunting for white tailed deer, pheasants, and whatever else was in season.

Now that I have told you a little about my grandpa’s place, I will tell you some more about my grandpa. My grandpa was a merry old soul; he was always thinking about his grandchildren and about the farm. He loved to sit with me and the rest of my cousins and tell us stories about the old days, about how our ancestor came to be here, and all kinds of little stories he had for that day. After we sat around with grandpa, we would go out and help him with the chorus around the farm like feeding the baby calves and feed the chickens, but what all the grandchildren were really waiting for was for grandpa to get out the four-wheeler to go ride around on.

This memory is very special to me because my grandpa  just recently passed away January 4, 2003. He was 88 years of age. It is a good memory because I got to see him a couple days before he passed away in the hospital. He was so very happy and was joking around with my sister, my brother, and me. We were the only three up there at the time. He seemed so happy, as if he was just up their for a check up or something. He acted like it was no big deal; he seemed like he wasn’t scared, which made me happy too. Before we left, he gave me a hug, telling me I was his little darling, and he whispered into our ears and said, "You guys are my favorite grandchildren, but don’t tell the others I told you". With that we gave our goodbyes and left for the night.