Sam and I re-homed the tractor today, one of many steps away from the farm and toward life in town.

He drove the tractor as I followed him in the pickup, loaded up with nearly all the tractor accoutrements Mark had acquired over the years, down Frenchtown Road for the last time.

Mark taught Sam to drive the tractor when he was a teen. He wanted Sam to learn to drive a car and figured this was a good way to see how he’d manage. Better to mow down a few trees or nick a fence or two in the relative safety of your Texas-sized front yard in that journey of self-discovery.

Sam, Master of the Tractor/Photo by Mark Wolfe

Mark was right. Sam could do it. When he pulled the tractor up under the carport this afternoon and parked it perfectly, Susan exclaimed, “Wow, Sam, you’re a professional!”

Sam wasn’t going to tolerate any tears from me, so I blinked them back behind my sunglasses.

“I made it!” he beamed.