Tex

So we had a pretty fantastic morning and sure don't deserve a day any better than we've had today. Good friends and family will make you feel like a million bucks anytime. What could be better?

Glad you asked.

As we're driving back to Cheyenne from having lunch with Eric, Diane and Memphis and feeling absolutely on top of the world we get a phone call from my friend Dan. We didn't have the phone in the little cell phone holder so we actually heard it ring this time. Dan wants to stop by and visit around 3pm. Sounds great, we'll have time to get home and get Jared down for a nap so this should work out just right. Jared will need his sleep because he's got the hots for Dan's daughter Danielle. She's 13 and the apple of Jared's eye. Poor Dani just smiles at the boy and he's all twitterpated, it's so cute it's nearly sad.

We boogie on up the highway and get to the house, get boy put down for his nap and dive into the newspaper to catch up on the world. Around 3:15 Leslie sees a figure moving up the front steps. She gets up as the doorbell rings and there stands a young man that looks vaguely familiar but she doesn't recognize him. He asks if I am home and she says "Yes he is, come on in". He says he'd just like to talk to me and stays on the porch. I go to the door and see this young guy standing there, dressed in western clothes, wearing a cowboy hat and I wonder which rodeo I might know him from. He looks at me and says

"Are you my daddy?"

Yep, that's what he said. No kidding, no exaggeration, no lie.

I replied, about half stunned

"I don't think so..............."

Just as my mind is racing to figure out exactly who this kid is I see movement over his right shoulder and hear a voice in the background. At the same time as the voice is starting in the background I hear the young man say "I'm Tex's oldest boy"
Dagnabbit TEX! YOU S.O.B.! Ya had to drive a thousand miles from Greenville, TX but you got me, you dirty rotten sonofagun!

I'm standing face to face with Travis Phillips, oldest son of Terry "Tex" Phillips and his lovely wife, Melissa. I haven't seen them in more than a dozen years and this is how they show back up. Pretty good once you step out of the shock and realize that you've been had. Tex, Melissa, Travis and Austin have all made the trip up from Texas to visit with Melissa's brothers that live out towards Horse Creek and figured that they oughta stop by and visit. Man, oh man, was it good to see them. And they brought Dan and his family too! Dan, aka Pup, his wife Deneen and their daughter, Danielle are rolling with laughter as they cross the street. Tex and his family are rolling as they make their way up the sidewalk and I'm still standing there with my jaw on the ground.

It's good to have friends!

We sit around and visit and catch up for the next few hours. Leslie has heard of Tex and his family but I didn't think I'd have a chance to have them all in the same state any time soon.

What a great day!

After visiting for a bit we decide to head out to dinner. Tex tells me that since he read my blog about Leslie they knew that they had to come up for Christmas and take us out for dinner. He says it sounded like we could use it. He was right. Of course, we're always ready to visit with good friends and dinner at Texas Roadhouse so this was a double bonus for us. (Does it seem odd that you would drive a thousand miles from Greenville, TX to Cheyenne, WY and then decide that Texas Roadhouse would be right for dinner?)

After dinner and a few dozen stories from the "Good Ol' Days" we figured that the only person that we hadn't seen was my friend Chuck. A hundred years ago it was Chuck, Pup, Tex and I terrorizing the town of Cheyenne. Tex moved away, Pup moved away, I moved away and Chuck stayed. In the last year, Pup moved back and I moved back. Life comes full circle when you're not looking. Since we hadn't let Chuck or his wife, Ricki, in on the fact that Tex was back we figured we probably ought to have a little fun with that one too.

We all roll up in front of the Griswald's house (aka Chuck and Ricki, with help from daughter Kimberly) and take our positions. Chuck and Ricki's house is a full fledged light and sound show for the holidays. Christmas and Halloween are absolutely events to behold on their front lawn. I should know, we stop by every year to check out the lights. With Jared able to grasp some of what's happening we make the trip by their house a couple of times each year. That little boy just loves all the lights and Chuck and Ricki do NOT disappoint.

Years ago when Chuck was stationed somewhere in the deep south he learned a term that the locals use to describe a location. Any location. Yonder is the word and the joke that came back with Chuck is that all he really wanted to find while he was in the south was exactly where in the heck "Yonder" was. Ok, not a terribly funny joke but it makes us giggle.

I tell you that so I can set up the following transaction that takes place on the front steps of Chuck's house. Travis, my long lost son, saunters up to the house and rings the doorbell. Kimberly answers the door and Travis asks for Chuck. Somehow Travis has asked Kimberly to ask Chuck if he knows where "Yonder" is. (Look, it had US rolling on the snow....)
Chuck shows up at the door, looking more than a little perplexed, as Tex walks around the backside of his car. Handshakes, hugs and a lot of "Man, I haven't seen you in forever" later we all decide to call it a night. A really fantastic night.

The end to an amazing day and one that will remind me for years of exactly how lucky, how blessed and how loved my family and I are.

Merry Christmas to all.