"The Hillbillies"

The writing on the back of this picture says: "Lem, Clyde, Ethel and John. 1972". I came across it recently in an old cigar box of "Aunt Ethel's things". Ethel was my Mother's youngest sister and Clyde her brother. John is Ethel's husband; they married rather late in life and never had children. Clyde and Ethel were very close as siblings though he married and raised a family. His wife died quite young and Clyde spent a lot of time with them. Lem must have been the owner of the tractor though John had one similar. My Dad referred to the three of them as the "Hillbillies". Though John and Ethel owned a couple small farms, they were not very good farmers. John loved machinery and was more interested in how the tractor ran than the care of the crops he was tending. They retired from farming in the mid '80's and moved to Seward across the street from our house. They still drove their Buick to Farm Shows where a steam engine may be on display. John had a stroke which limited him to enjoying listening to Polka music and Emergency radio messages. After he passed on, Ethel lived for a few years before having a stoke,  brain surgery and spent close to ten years in  a local rest home.
 I was her Power of Attorney even prior to her stroke and the administrator of their estate. The expenses of their final years exhausted their financial resources that came from the farms, house in town and personal property. Elaine did the bookkeeping for Aunt Ethel during the last 15 years or so of her life. We were very conservative in accepting reimbursement for our expenses but ended up with a few interesting personal possessions and pictures like this one. Aunt Ethel was always good to me as a kid, and John  did some wiring for us in our first couple houses. They were good to us when we needed their help, and we were able to return the favor.  Isn't that what relatives are supposed to do??