With all the change this year has brought about, we’re all clinging to the little things to preserve some sense of normalcy.
For some, that little thing is a skincare routine, for others, it’s grocery shopping, but for 85-year-old Gordon Blakeslee, it’s mowing his lawn on his beloved 2009 red Craftsman riding lawnmower.
When the coronavirus pandemic forced the nation into lockdown, rather than stay at his home in Harpursville, New York, Gordon temporarily moved in with his son and his family.
Sometime within the few months, he was away at his son’s house, a thief took one of Gordon’s most cherished belongings—his lawnmower
The item in question went missing from the front yard of his Harpursville home, and when Gordon returned to see it missing, he refused to get a new one.
When neighbors heard the news, the family pleaded with them not to do anything like starting a Gofundme to replace the stolen mower.
“That was something that was precious to him, everything that he has value to him,” Candace Blakeslee, his daughter-in-law, said.
“I want it back,” said Gordon. “I used to work out here, when my wife was alive, I used to work out there all day long.”
In an effort to get his lawnmower back, he put a cardboard sign up in his yard asking for its return.
“Bring back my mower,” the handwritten sign read. “I’m 85 years old! I can’t push.”
In hopes that someone would come forward, Candace wrote a post about the missing lawnmower on her Facebook with a photo of her father-in-law standing next to the sign.
Sadly, the family’s hopes were dashed when, after a week, no one showed up with the missing mower.
Fortunately, it seems like Gordon is finally back in the saddle! An anonymous donor bought him a brand new Craftsman riding lawnmower, and the Broome County Sheriff’s Department delivered it to him.
It’s not the 2009 model he was so attached to, but it’s bright red just like the last one, and Gordon couldn’t be happier.
We’re sure this grandpa’s kicking serious grass with his new-and-improved lawnmower!
Read more about this wonderful story here!
(Photo courtesy of Candice Blakeslee)
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