Joanie Hurst's blog

In Memory of Auntie Eve

My aunt passed away this week. She was 96 years young. She never married. She was a loving Sister/Sister-in-law, Aunt, Great Aunt and Great Great Aunt. She always put family needs before her own. She was a favored aunt to many of us. I remember as a child, she always had a bright copper penny in her pocket to share with us. She, like her Mother before her, had a knack for finding the only 4 leaf clover among millions of 3 leaf ones. She would never reveal her age even though it was easy for us kids to figure it out as she shared the same birthdate as my Mother but was 6 years older. When she turned 92 she finally fessed up to her age when she talked of a doctor appointment she had and the doctor told her she was "in excellent health for a woman of 92". I remember she said she asked the doctor if she was really 92. From that day forward, she always told me how old she was when I called to wish her a Happy Birthday.

She always lived in the city, never had a need or desire to drive. When she semi-retired at the age of 65 she decided it was time to get a driver's license and bought her first car. I was sitting here the other day thinking that at the age of 60 I have no desire to drive the highways at all, or to even ride on them for that matter. I enjoy driving along country roads at 45-50 mph. Anything faster than that makes me white knuckled. Shortly after she turned 92 family was forced to take her car away from her because it didn't hold it's age as well as she did. She never let us forget that her transportation to Foxwoods was taken away from her. She always found a way to end her conversations on that note.

I've 60 years of wonderful memories. Saturday shopping trips to Hartford and luncheons at Brown Thompsons. Easter egg hunts as a child and again as an adult with her and my children. Christmases and birthdays, July 4th celebrations and Thanksgiving. A lifetime of joyful memories.

I've included a picture of Aunty Eve and her brother Bill. It was taken at my sister Linda's wedding in 1993. Bill was 84 at the time and Eve 80. Uncle Bill passed in January of 2000 at the age of 91. I've one aunt remaining. I can only guess her age to be around 93.

Bill's New Toy

We are truly blessed. I don't question how or why. I will tell you though that each night before I fall to sleep I thank the Lord for all that he has provided.

Last spring we placed an ad at Craigslist and Connecticut Garage Sales looking to purchase an older model Wheel Horse Tractor in any condition. Within days a Colebrook resident offered a non-working tractor on freecycle. We responded and picked it up. After a couple of hours of general maintenance and the installation of a gas filter, the tractor was up and running. Bill uses it for everything that has to be done outside... hauling wood, trips to the cabins, moving trailers around, blazing new trails, you name it.

Before the holidays I posted an ad on Craiglslist and Connecticut Garage Sales looking for a snow blower or thrower attachment for it. We found one a few weeks ago in Ludlow, MA that Bill picked up for $100. It is in bad shape, and would cost close to $500 to fix up, and we'd still have an old piece of equipment. We crossed our fingers and posted another ad last week looking for a snow blower in any condition as long as it was repairable. A fellow from Torrington saw our ad and connected us up with a buddy of his that had a snow blower for sale that he previously had on a 1972 Wheel Horse. The fellow lives in New Hartford. We took a ride out Friday night to see if it was anything that we could use. It was exactly what we were looking for and I for one was willing to pay a good price for it just so that we could end our search and move onto our next project. Arrangements were made to pick it up the following day and no dollar amount was established. The tractor that it had been attached to needed repair and Bill offered to repair the tractor to cut down on the cost of the snow blower. Used, it is worth at least $500 to the seller. Saturday afternoon found us back in New Hartford with trailer in tow. After we got it loaded on the trailer Bill inquired again about the price. The owner looked at Bill and said..."You're a Nam Vet right?" Bill responded... "Unfortunately, yes." The fellow looked at him and said... "Take it, it's yours. It was in my way."  From now on when someone asks Bill if he is a Nam Vet he's going to respond.... "FORTUNATELY yes!." 

I have no exact monetary value that I can put on the tractor/snow blower, but looking at the prices of other yard tractors in the store, and from my personal experience buying large lawn equipment, I'd say that we are looking at a piece of equipment that would run a minimum of $5,000. (We have the 42" mower attachment that goes with it, but no use for it.) All of this was "gifted" to us and as of now our out of pocket cost to get it running was $5 for the gas filter, a couple of pins that we had laying around and $$ for gas to run it.  Like I said... We truly are blessed.