It is a well-known fact that all great fairy tales begin in the land of “once-upon-a-time”, & relative to that fact, this one is no different. Except it IS different. In many ways. Actually, in every way. THIS fairy tale just happens to be true. Our story begins 36 years ago…oops…actually 37.5 years ago…in a land not-so-far-far-away.
Let me set the stage in the theater of your mind: it is the year of our Lord, 1985, & the setting is a carnival…not a medieval one, but one celebrating rural agriculture: the illustrious cotton crop of Southeastern Missouri. The atmosphere is replete with redneck frivolity, funnel cakes, & the voices of carnival barkers. It is here where our main characters…the man & the college girl…cross paths. He sees her face in the crowd, minding her own & enjoying some cotton candy. He approaches her boldly, throwing out a romantic line that would cause most girls to swoon…to no avail. Her heart was spoken for. The end.
And yet…it was NOT the end. Fast forward to the year of our Lord, 1986. It was a hot, sultry summer’s eve, when the man & the college girl would meet again. This time the atmosphere was filled with the alluring aroma of pizza, & the voices of the blood-bought-saints fresh out of Sunday evening services. This time there was no romance, only an insult…a false accusation. The college girl was fairly horrified, & also completely annoyed…& yet…in that moment the man came fully into focus. He was a cowboy. And not just any cowboy…but one in possession of mischief in his eyes & a smirk on his lips…oh, & he sure looked good in those Wranglers. She was intrigued.
In the field of astronomy it is a documented fact that on that very night, the stars lined up in the most peculiar way, time stood still…if only ever so briefly…& the portal to a new world opened up. What occurred next can only be called miraculous…surely not seen in this century, at the very least…but a time-space compression of unheard of proportions, that propelled our hero & his maiden to an altar. This was no ordinary altar, but more of a threshold…the doorway to a bona-fide fairy tale. It was the year of our Lord, 1987, the 21st day of February. The cowboy & the college girl made a covenant that day…before their God & to each other…a pact for all eternity. And God saw that it was good.
When I say “the rest is history” & “they lived happily ever after”, I ain’t kiddin’. But the story is so much bigger than that. There were epic adventures to be had, dragons to slay, impossible dreams realized, the dazzling genesis of new generations…with enough laughter & love & historic quests to make a believer out of the hardest-hearted skeptic. I know these things for fact. You see, I was there…I AM that girl who loves that cowboy…more now than ever before. This is the stuff legends are made of. And the story is not over yet…
Happy Anniversary, Cowboy
2/21/23
A Story Told Here... 