My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys/Cowgirls!
Thursday, March 27th was my husband’s birthday! I’ve always felt kind of bad for him having his birthday during calving season. However, it never seems to phase him in the least. Most years we don’t go anywhere. We usually celebrate at home with his favorite meal for supper, cake, and presents. This year was a bit different and I was glad about that.
A few weeks ago I heard that Fred Whitfield (8 time World Champion Calf Roper) was coming to Chadron State College as a featured presenter. I was excited! I had met Fred back at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in 2012. It was a brief encounter with nothing more than a quick snapshot of the two of us together. Here is that picture:
Shane and I talked about going to see Fred when he came to town, but it was left with the usual “we’ll see how it goes”…meaning….if the weather is good, if there isn’t a heifer calving, if a number of other problems don’t occur…..life on the ranch….you know?! :) Anyway, March 27th arrived and except for almost 50 head of our cows getting out of the calving pasture it was a fairly uneventful day. We rounded the cows back up and got them put back in the calving pasture. All was well in the heifer lot so we headed to town to see Fred and have supper with friends afterwards.
We picked up Shane’s cake. I haven’t had much time to bake lately so this was my best course of action. Kathy Bishop at Cakes & Etc. in Chadron always does a great job! Here is what she came up with:
Once we got the cake we headed up to the college where Fred was speaking. We got there fairly early so only a handful of people were ahead of us to get Fred’s autograph. Our turn came fairly soon!
We even managed to get a family pic with Fred!
Fred’s speech/presentation wasn’t one of great structure (he doesn’t claim to be a professional speaker). It was more of a question and answer session, which I really enjoyed. He talked about his book, “Gold Buckles Don’t Lie”. (If you haven’t read it, you really need to. There is a lot to know behind the scenes that is talked about in there.) He was really open and candid. We all enjoyed it immensely.
I had the pleasure of meeting his wife, Cassie. At the Cowgirl Swank shop, Kayla and I got together a “Rodeo Wife” cap for her and a couple of caps for their daughters. I presented it to Cassie and she loved it. Here we are together (she’s even wearing her new cap)!
My son was quite enamored with Fred. He just couldn’t get enough! Here he is again after he snuck back into the autograph line with his friend, Travon Bass.
Here is where I tell you truthfully that “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys/Cowgirls”. It’s true…..my husband, my grandpa, my dad, Fred Whitfield, Casey Tibbs, Chad Ferley, Lisa Lockhart, my mom, Charmayne James, my fellow ranch rodeo gals, all the way to the little neighbor boy learning to rope, etc……My list could go on forever! Truly though….they are all my heroes! I look up to each of them! I think it’s utterly important in life to surround yourself with positive influences and people you aspire to be like (look up to). That’s what we do in our family. We always reach for the stars in whatever we set our minds to……and being around champions is good for your outlook on life! Who do you admire? Have you made it a point to put positive influences in your life? If not, will you? This a good question to ask yourself. You only live once…..why not live it striving to be a better person each and every day however you can? ~Cheyenne