MY COLORADO
COWBOY
When Things Get
Back To Normal
By
Connie Vigil
Platt
At last my
handsome Colorado Cowboy has gone home to be
with God. After weeks of intense agony and
Chemotherapy he is out of misery.
The evil
malignancy was malicious and fast moving. It had
invaded his body before we knew he was anywhere
near that sick. I watched as he faded from life.
At the last
he fought to hold on but he didn’t even know who
I was.
I want to
blame the “Marlboro Man” or the sexy actors that
make it seem that if you smoke their cigarettes
you will be popular and rich and exciting. The
truth is that he voluntarily did smoke heavily
for many years but I cannot say that was the
cause of his final illness. I’m sure there were
many contributing factors. How many of us can
deny that we misspent our youth?
I kept
telling him we would have one more dance but
that wasn’t to be. From now on he will only hold
me in my memory. If I had never had the dance I
wouldn’t have had the pain, and I wouldn’t have
missed the dance for anything.
In my mind
he is still the vibrant cowboy I once knew.
Never again will I be mad enough to pack up and
leave him. Never again will he be mad enough to
pack up and leave me.
Knowing the
end was near; together we prayed for God to
forgive any sins that he may have committed.
The only
thing he ever wanted was for someone to love
him. At the end of the day we only have each
other. Now I am thankful for the time we had
together.
“When I die
put my spurs on my chest and turn my horses
loose.”
Now it’s
time to turn his horses loose.
He served
his country in Korea during the fifties and came
home jumpy with night sweats and a drinking
problem. Blame it on the war or blame it on a
weakness I loved him in any case. I truly
believe he loved me in his own way.
Since he
had an honorable discharge from the military he
was given a twenty-one-gun salute. As “Taps” was
played at his burial the sun came out and I knew
he was in God’s hands and out of the pain he had
suffered. I could feel him smile at me.
When things
get back to normal I may never love again but I
will learn to laugh again.
