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| Jonah's Bobcat |
Two years ago I got a call from my mother’s aid while I was at our community Purim Carnival with my grandchildren. Mom didn't wake up. This year, while I was at Temple during Purim to hear the Megillah Esther read, I was thinking about it being my Dad's birthday. His March 14th birthday fell on the 14th of Adar this year. I never noticed this happening before.
It would have been Dad's 94th birthday, but he passed four months earlier.
Below, at the end of this post, I pasted a message I recieved while I was in temple. I needed to hear the Megillah and that message about my father.
One of the most poignant moments after the loss of a parent, is on their first birthday after they've passed away. One feels the need to call their parent to wish them a happy birthday and to hear their voice.
This birthday I didn't have Dad to call, so I called my brother-in-law. He answered the phone just enough like my father used to when he was a younger man, that it made me speechless.
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Receiving my new tractor |
Not only is today Dad's birthday and Purim, it is also the day a new Commercial Farm Tractor is being delivered to my Tree of Life Farm. The tractor was made possible with money from Dad's estate.
The delivery date, Dad's birthday turned out to be a coincidence. The dealer and I have gone back & forth for months on this transaction and there was no attempt to have it delivered on his birthday, let alone Purim. The connection hadn't even occurred to me.
It's a "Bobcat" make tractor (Model CT2025). You can see the "Tiger" logo on my cap and the tractor grill in the photo above.
When I was a very young child, Dad called me either "Bobby" or "Tiger." I preferred Tiger.
I know it is a silly reason for choosing a tractor maker, but once I preferred the Bobcat machine I selected, the logo was the clincher. I'm sure the marketing folks at Bobcat didn't put that into their strategy plans!
After the tractor arrived, I remembered another significant moment in my life concerning my tractor and my father...
When Mary and I bought our first single family home 40 years ago, my dad bought me a Wheelhorse lawn tractor for my birthday and to help us get started in our first house. At the time, that tractor felt like an incredible gift of love. It meant so much to me then.
The Bobcat farm tractor that arrived on Dad's birthday is an incredible gift to help the Tree of Life farm. As far as I am concerned, my Bobcat is a "tractor from heaven."
Dad had a long life, which went fast like all our lives. Happy birthday on the other side "Ox" Ritter from your "Tiger!"
To conclude this blog post, I want to share a message I recieved today from a friend of Dad's in Florida
March 14, 2025 and Adar 14th 5785:
Hi Jonah. Craig Wertkin and Shelley Cohen here. As I readied myself to call your dad on his 94th birthday, I google him for news and sadly found that he passed. Shelley and I had a special love for your dad. He loved when we picked him up and took him to Kee Grill. He was a very special man.
Our sincere condolences to you and the entire Ritter family. May the memories of this wonderful, smart, and generous man be with you and his grandchildren and great grandchildren forever. Please circulate this to other family members. 🙏
