Bryce Angell is a cowboy poet. Angell was raised on a farm/ranch in the St. Anthony, Idaho area with approximately 75 head of horses. Horses remain an important part of Angell’s life.
Angell shares his poetry with Cache Valley Daily every Friday.
The old man got up from his chair and then he walked away. There wasn’t reason for concern. He’d walked off every day.
But the oldest son seemed anxious and he told his youngest child. “Make sure your grandpa’s safe and please don’t let him run hog-wild.
“Your grandpa’s kind of old now and he needs some special care. Might get himself in trouble if he’s all alone out there.”
Those words stuck to my brain faster than honey sticks your toes. A man gets old and then his family worries where he goes.
Right then I plumb decided I ain’t never getting old. Don’t need my family watching me like disappearing gold.
Well, that was fifty years ago. Still seems like yesterday. The years flew by so doggone fast. Our time sure slips away.
I see old-timer in the mirror, yet don’t feel quite so old. While Mother Nature tries to put me six feet in the cold.
The other day my son and grandson joined us all for lunch. The words that he would later say hit like a solid punch.
I shoveled in my Rueben like a pig does at the trough. Then I got up from the table thought I better walk it off.
That’s when I heard my anxious son say to his youngest child, “Make sure your grandpa’s safe and please don’t let him run hog-wild.
“Your grandpa’s kinda old now and he needs some special care. Might get himself in trouble if he’s all alone out there.”
Did I really hear those words that seemed to haunt me through and through? But one thing is for certain it’s a case of Deja Vu.
I guess I need to realize my family sure does care. And getting old’s much easier with kinfolk always there.