I ain’t a Kid... I'm a Cowboy!!!

Here’s a short story I wrote for the family some years back about Christmas up at the Big House. (That would be my Grandparents house.)

Hope you enjoy!

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* I ain’t a Kid... I'm a Cowboy! *

Yes sir... Back when we were all kids, I think all of us thought this at one time or another. Well all of us boys did anyway... You girls thought you were... Cowgirls!!!

Now I don't know about you but these were some of the best days in my little life and I will surely cherish them forever...

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Remember Christmas time up at the Big House with all of the family there? God how could you ever forget that... Those big old Christmas trees that Aunt Mob Bee would go and cut down from the woods behind the Big House each year. I always wanted to go on those Christmas tree hunts but I was way too little for that. Yet some of the older kids got to go and they would always have a great time by doing so...

Now theliving room ceiling in the Big House was a very high one. It must have been at least 10 feet up there or better. And all those Christmas trees that Aunt Mob Bee would go and cut down each year would always be taller than the ceiling was... Those trees were so Big and Tall!!! In fact those trees would be so tall that she usually had to go and cut a good bit out of the top and the bottom of them just to get the Star to fit on top...

Well all us little kids might not have been able to go on the Christmas tree hunts but boy we sure did have us a lot of fun helping in the decorating of them. Well... Re-decorating of them that is... Those Christmas trees were almost fully decorated by the time we got a-hold of them. That was ok though... We'd spend most the holiday season re-decorating all the stuff we had knocked off of them any-old-way. Wouldn't get into any trouble for it either... That is as long as we didn't go and mess up and break something. Mamaw would surely get mad at ya if you had gone and done something terrible like that...

Now Christmas Eve Night was always a very special time for the family. Old and young alike!!! It was a time to share gifts and to spend some good old quality time together. Shoot... All of us kids would always make out like bandits from all the gifts we would receive. We'd even end up having us a little time left over to play with all of them too!!! Well that is after we all helped in the cleaning up of the living room... With a family our size, there would always be a lot of wrapping paper thrown all over the place...

Now what kind of presents did I like best back then you might ask... Well... Anything that pertained to COWBOYS of course... Mamaw and Papaw were great on getting us kids this kind of stuff. Seemed like every year we would get something along this line from them too...

Come to think of it... Every year up in November, Papaw would take a train load of cows to auction in Fort Worth Texas and would always buy us kids all kinds of real neat western stuff... Some of my best cowboy shirts came from over there too... In fact, back in 1958 on Easter Eve day, I was wearing one of them shirts when I went and got myself all burned up watching the Easter eggs boil. Thanks for putting me out Big Sis!! (But that's another story.)

Now dag-gum-it!!! Just like them Christmas tree hunts, I was way too little to go to Fort Worth and the Auction Barn with Papaw... Yet again, some of the older kids always got to go with him.... (Life just ain’t fair sometimes is it???)

Shoot... By the time I got old enough to go with Papaw, he had stopped going over there all together... I think that's around the time the Clark's Auction Barn opened up just outside of Bossier City and Papaw had started going there instead...

Anyway... I remember this one Christmas Eve when all of us kids got us a western suit from Mamaw and Papaw... Came with the vest, hat, pants, western scarf, shirt, shoot-um-up guns and cowboy rope to-boot... Giddy-up Horsey... YEEE- HAW!!!!!!!!!

Yes sir... We were all some mighty happy kids that Christmas Eve night. Just a-running around the Big House playing in our new outfits and all... Yet I think the one thing I remember most about that night was when I snuck up on Mamaw. I had my scarf up over my nose and my two new toy pistols drawn out of their holsters. As I eased up behind her, she all of a sudden turned around on me and said... "You kids look so cute in your outfits!!" That's when I shot her three times and said, "Mamaw... I Ain’t a Kid... I'm a COWBOY!!!"

Story by: AubreyJ.........
Aubrey J. Fawcett
12/2003