05/14/2026
Today was a bittersweet day. It was hard watching the last buildings from a historic era come down. The shop and drive shed Grandpa built, and the straw storage Dad built. With one sweep of the excavator bucket, Grandpa’s last physical mark on the property disappeared.
I remember Dad struggling with the decision to take the old barn down years ago, and Grandpa supporting him through it. I can still hear Grandpa saying, “He’d be stupid if he didn’t.” Grandpa would drive in almost every day while the new barn was being built in his little red Ford Ranger. He was just as excited to watch it go up as Dad was.
I really hope that if Grandpa were here today, he’d be proud. I think he would be just as excited now as he was then. Today was another step toward progress. The business is growing, and we’ve outgrown these buildings.
Even though the buildings are gone, and we look ahead to building a new one, the memories of what stood there and the people who built them will always remain. Thank you Grandpa, and thank you Dad.
