I am from blackberry stained baseball caps, pickup trucks, and opportunity.
From the piney woods to peaches and live oaks… and prickly pear.
The setting sun, the next rise, and trips to the sale barn.
Hot days bringing in the hay, and cold days putting it out again.
The Navasota River bottom… whitetails, the unrivaled comfort of fires … just the right size … at just the right time, where I first experienced that intoxicating taste of being trusted… what it means to be a man. The approval of a hero.
Ideas pondered during hours and hours on a tractor… or inside a pickup with my dad. Hours of quiet and hours of talking… or taking turns reading out loud.
The confidence that comes from hearing, “He can do it,” and the kind (but certain) reminder of who I am.
The danger of mean bulls, nice bulls, … and plain ol’ ornery mama cows.
Bluebonnets, the dairy barn (where things are in perspective), Kyle Field, The Alamo, chiggers, the smell of bacon frying and the hiss of the coffee boiling over onto the stove, baseball fields, boots, china and crystal, bass fried on the back porch, apple pie with ice cream (or sometimes sharp cheddar cheese), blood, sweat,
Tears and Laughter, and the best family in the world.
I am from that white lobby in London… where everything changed.
From loneliness, fear, shame, and shattered dreams. Where steps feel like quicksand, no one understands, and God is sufficient.
I am from fresh starts and new beginnings.
That old rail fence marking Elizabeth Crocket’s home place… cold, tired, wonderful. Where I was reminded that I was not alone. Where the dog worked well and God was actually … everything.
Freezing duck blinds with good friends, where the coffee is never very hot, cigarettes are the best, and conversations are real.
I am from the banks of the Rio, the Brazos, and the Guadalupe. But mostly, I’m from beside the San Antonio … across from old St. Joseph’s, The Menger, the steps where the flutes play, and the hillside overlooking the Frio, where cactus flowers grow. Better than my dreams.
The invitation to Go. … so beyond my worth or ability… the overwhelming blessing and honor of all those willing to journey with us, and where God really is… everything.
I am from the delivery room and the courtroom.
The margins. Broken. Changed. Determined. Out of control. Free and dependent.
I am from the many meaningful moments experienced (and yet to be experienced) with my wife, our kids, grandkids, and great grandkids, from co-founding a multi-generational family beef company… and the 50 years of family dinners it will have inspired… a truly epic journey!
I am from a wide-open fenceless place. Full of adventure… Where dreams live, hope breathes, danger is certain, …and life is real.