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My Middle Daughter was living in Wichita Falls, TX while her husband taught Avionics for the Air Force, and commuting to OK to work a horse farm. She cleaned stalls, exercised the horses, and in turn, got to keep her paint gelding there, and ride the owner's horses and show them when they went to shows. They had quality horses and won, a lot. The owner of the farm was a former WWII bomber pilot and after she had been working there for just about eighteen months he pulled her aside one day. He told her how much he admired her work ethic, her attitude and her character and told her he wanted to talk to her.

The old man sat her down on a bench under a tree and told her that he...
had...
cancer.

He didn't have long.
He asked if she and her husband might be interested in buying the property... She was stunned... of course she was interested, but ... they were still young and hadn't saved near enough. You might be surprised he continued, he and his wife wanted them to have the place. He would sell it to her for just over what they owed on the assumable VA loan. All he asked is that she board his wife's horses there for a reasonable fee as long as the wife continued to have them, and that Jess look after his wife. The loan closed days before he passed, and the little extra over the money owed came as a shock, they had done that so that THEY could pay the closing.

Jess and her Air Force hubby have had the farm several years now and she and the wife have grown to be like family. The actual children have NO interest in the farm or the horses and when they come to visit MOM, are in and out. Jess goes to shows with the wife, shows the horses and has full control over the horses at the barn. She has been training a filly that dropped last year, and sent her mom a picture this morning. The subject line was "Baby Got Back." Thought you'd like to see the pic... Quarter Horse Palomino Filly... a yearling... Alti-Grace... She is expected to be a real Winner in the ring and my granddaughter loves her.



My daughter not only cares for the horses, but drives the wife to the doc, takes her to get her groceries, and helps her whenever she calls. A promise, is a promise. She learned her lessons well. We are proud of her. The farm in OK is just a half hour from the base in TX, where her hubby is now doing his same military job as a contracted Federal Employee. More money, less BS.

Jessy has boarded the horses at the farm for a quarter the going rate, just enough to cover the house payment. The wife has tried to pay more over and over, but Jess refuses to accept an increase. They are still grateful for the kindness of the sale. Karma, I have always told the kids that Karma comes round, good and bad. Watch what you say and do... it'll come back.

What a heart warming story, thank you very much for sharing it. Wow, don't let my wife see that little filly...she'll be on her way there with the horse trailer! What a beauty.
Again, thanks for the story and photo, and tell your daughter an old cowpuncher says Hi and keep up the good work.

Thanks for sharing that Marine. Sometimes when it seems everything in this country is just too screwed up stories like this remind us all that there are a whole lot of really good people still here. They just don't get any attention from the media.

The good folks were on both sides of this one.
When my daughter asked me to make one of my special military memorial boxes for this WWII vet I was more than happy to.
I made it in oak, it holds the folded flag with space for medals, patches, wings, etc.
She said the widow was very touched when she received it.
I have made them in walnut, cherry, curly cherry, oak, and knotty pine.

This is a shot of the Curly Cherry Display Case I made for my Son In Law after he left the Air Force... the design is MY original design.


The first was my own box, made to display my Marine Corps career so to speak, and was made from a single piece of walnut firewood. The piece had a grain too nice to burn. After drying the log for a year, I ran it thru the bandsaw, then each piece thru the planer, across the jointer, and nearly every major tool in the shop was used to make my box from a chunk of firewood that caught my eye. Hidden inside the little cubby formed by the space at the bottom is a small piece of the log with the bark still in place proving that MINE was made from firewood.



The challenge coin on the front of mine was presented to me one of my LE Sergeant's returned from leave to bury his father who had recently passed, a WWII era Marine. His dad carried the coin in his pocket for most of his life. The Sergeant told me he knew I would do something respectful with it. When he saw what I had done, he was thrilled.

Great stuff Marine! And yes...the good people were on both sides in your story. Congrats to your SIL on his service to the AF and his continuing service as a civilian contractor.

As an aside, my son is just completing his 10th year in the AF. Our relationship has been strained since his Mom and I divorced but when I was at his wedding he asked me..."Dad...I'm 20 years old, I'm getting married and I dropped out of college because all I was doing was drinking beer and smoking pot. What should I do?"

I told him that my greatest regret in life was that I had left the Army.

He asked me "Why did you do that?"

I answered truthfully that his Mom had told me she would divorce me if I stayed in.

The conversation went on for a while and he said again..."What should I do Dad?"

I told him..."Join the military. Any branch you want. And make a career out of it."

10 years later he is still in and swears he's going for 20 and maybe 30 depending on when he can get into a civilian contractor position.

Our relationship is still "strained" but when he has major life decisions to make he always calls me to ask advice. Bothers me that we are not as close as I would like but I'm proud of him and glad that he turns to me when there are big decisions to make.

2fewdaysafield wrote:Great stuff Marine! And yes...the good people were on both sides in your story. Congrats to your SIL on his service to the AF and his continuing service as a civilian contractor.

As an aside, my son is just completing his 10th year in the AF. Our relationship has been strained since his Mom and I divorced but when I was at his wedding he asked me..."Dad...I'm 20 years old, I'm getting married and I dropped out of college because all I was doing was drinking beer and smoking pot. What should I do?"

I told him that my greatest regret in life was that I had left the Army.

He asked me "Why did you do that?"

I answered truthfully that his Mom had told me she would divorce me if I stayed in.

The conversation went on for a while and he said again..."What should I do Dad?"

I told him..."Join the military. Any branch you want. And make a career out of it."

10 years later he is still in and swears he's going for 20 and maybe 30 depending on when he can get into a civilian contractor position.

Our relationship is still "strained" but when he has major life decisions to make he always calls me to ask advice. Bothers me that we are not as close as I would like but I'm proud of him and glad that he turns to me when there are big decisions to make.

I'd say that was good advice. Two of my four went into the service. Both graduated at the top of their high school classes, both decided that college wasn't really what they wanted, and both headed to boot camp. The daughter went into the Air Force and finished first in her class in Air Traffic Control School, in the academic (class room) phase. When she got to the tower training segment, they discovered that darkened room + bright screens = nausea and migraines every time. She had a guaranteed contract for ATC or her choice of another field... guaranteed. She wanted to go into a Medical Field, they told her she could have MPs or out. She took out. She got the last laugh, her boyfriend married her and THEY were in another six or seven years. HE was a nuclear certified avionic tech on B52s and Stealth Bombers... although he reenlisted, he got shin splints and could no longer run... but aced the other segments of the semi-annual fitness test. But.. They were in the middle of the reduction in force and ...

He was teaching at the base in Wichita Falls... within six months he was back in the same job, same desk, as a civilian.

Son went into the Coast Guard, did his four year hitch, including patrolling NY Harbor during the 9/11 crisis. When his four years ended and he decided not to reenlist.. He went on terminal leave and was looking at houses in TX... He had been accepted as a Homeland Security river patrol boat leader in Texas. His wife is a Physician's Assistant and she had several offers from hospitals where he would port out of. They were stopped, waiting to turn left coming out of walmart with a green light and a Dodge Dually ran the red and hit his small subaru in the door, breaking everything on his left side. The sheriff's deputy who responded called him in as DOA. When my son gasped for a breath, the deputy nearly died himself. He was in a coma for three weeks, but survived.

Since he was on terminal leave from the Coast Guard, his leave stopped the minute he went into the hospital, and he was still on terminal leave with three days remaining six months later, when he was finally discharged from the Coast Guard. The Homeland Security position was still his, but he had been told his Post Concussion Syndrome was permanent. He told Homeland Security to hire someone else. He is now retrained as a respiratory tech and works in the hospital he spent six months in.

Life goes on....

One of the better threads I've read on here. Tip of the cap to you folks and your offspring.

Got a call from Jessy this evening,
Alti-grace won her class at a pretty good size show in Texas this weekend.
She also took Grand Champion ... stunning not only Jessy and her owner, but a lot of folks in the crowd as well.
Since there was a Grand Champion Mare in the Crowd.

Ah... "Not that she didn't deserve it...." said the gossips, but everyone expected the former grand champion to walk away with everything... "That little filly has a real future," said a lot of folks around the arena. "Is she for sale.." asked a lot of others.

Got a call from Jessy this evening,
Alti-grace won her class at a pretty good size show in Texas this weekend.
She also took Grand Champion ... stunning not only Jessy and her owner, but a lot of folks in the crowd as well.
Since there was a Grand Champion Mare in the Crowd.

Ah... "Not that she didn't deserve it...." said the gossips, but everyone expected the former grand champion to walk away with everything... "That little filly has a real future," said a lot of folks around the arena. "Is she for sale.." asked a lot of others.

Here is a new pic of the Filly, taken as Jess was warming her up for her class at the show.
I think you can tell she is in pretty good shape for a yearling, and we can see why she won her class, and took the top spot at the show.

Very nice looking horse. Looks like she moves out real good. Thanks for sharing.

Best read in a long time, Thank you for sharing!