Texas Born
Texas Proud
Lived Life Fast
Lived Life Loud
Made Mistakes
Paid the Price
Don’t Cry Folks
Heavens Nice
This epitaph is on my son’s memorial stone, a very heavy slab of black granite shaped like Texas… 40” tall, 8” thick, on a base of Fredericksburg Red Granite. He was 17 yrs old when he died, drove a ’65 Chevy Apache with 6” Diesel stacks coming up out of the bed and no mufflers.
As Texans, we have a way of standing out in a crowd of people that stand out. It’s what we do. Be that via guns, trucks, or the best B-B-Q in the world. Our gals are farm tough, sexy as all get out, and a great many of em carry. Many of those that don’t, their grandma’s do!
We believe a man’s word is his bond, a handshake is the best contract in the world, and a hard days work is the gateway to a weekend of hell raising. Rebel yells abound, still, even though we’ve been infiltrated with a great many non-native born Texan residents, maybe some Texans weren’t born here like I was, but those that had the misfortune of being born elsewhere were glad they found their way home. 
Summer days are a time when there’s not much need to turn on the hot water in the shower, not much cold water coming out anyway. Winter days can be brutal, but we’re just as likely to need the air conditioner a day or two later. Just how it is. Day I was born it was 111 degrees, two days later it hit 113. I’ve seen it freezing for a week then hit 101 in February, only to drop back down to freezing 2 days later. The old saying says if you don’t like the weather in Texas, wait a day and it’ll change. Unless we’re in a heat wave, where it can break 100 degrees 100 days in a row. Relentless weather breeds relentless people. Great neighbors, the best friends, and some of the worst enemies a man ever created.
Texan first, American second and ornery through and through! God Bless Texas!
(My Mississippi born wife is giving me the Stink Eye, but she packs and can relate as she’s a Southern belle through and through)
