Lasting Legacies . . .

As most of you know by now, a few years ago I entered the world of real estate by becoming an agent with Keller Williams Elite Realty in Baytown. Yep - I often accuse my 85-year-old father of not letting the grass grow under his feet. (Have you ever heard that one?) I seem to be following in his footsteps.

I have really enjoyed this latest adventure, even though I seem to be juggling far too many pins in the air at the moment. Some of that is soon to change though.

At any rate, not long ago my cousins on my dad's side of the family contacted me about selling the acreage that they inherited from our grandparents' original five-acre spread in Baytown. When my grandmother passed away in the mid-90s, my father and his other siblings inherited 3.25 acres of the original tract and sold it.

D. J. and Elenora (Ressler) Hechler, abt 1963

My uncle and his family continued to live on their portion.

I know for a fact my grandparents - D. J. and Eleanora (Ressler) Hechler - never dreamed their granddaughter would sell their property for their other grandchildren. Life is, though, odd that way at times.

They bought the property when it was deep in the country. Major roads that now crisscross nearby were not yet carved from the ground even in my girlhood. D. J. and Eleanora bought the property in the spring of 1937, and my Dad was born in the house later that year. Everyone used an outhouse for several years until a bathroom was built onto the house. My uncle built the barn himself. A large garden graced the property, as did a smokehouse, a pump house, and a large pond in the back.

I have few memories of Grandpa D.J. He died when I was about five years old. I do remember (or maybe I remember the stories told to me?) of his playing at the Hechler kitchen table with me and pr