Texas washing over me like a wave

[Brisketexan 105,151]

Not sure where to put this.  But had to write it down.  Here seems as good a place as any.

Work took me to S. Texas the last couple of days, and while I was down there (and especially on the drive), a whole lot of family history – both old, and ongoing – washed the hell over me.  Hard, like "pounding me into the sand till I come up wet and sputtering."  My family roots in S. Texas are deep as hell, from before Texas was just Texas.  My daughter and I spent much of this past Sunday with my dad, recording stories and looking over family history, photos, and documents.  Looking at a particular document my dad pulled out of an old box, I realized that I had family here when it was “Coahuila y Tejas” (also reminding me that my Texan family history and Mexican family history overlap like hell).  GGGG uncle was big in the Mexican gov’t, had to work with Santa Anna to get shit done (and was one of the first Mexican officials to support deposing him).  True to family form, he died penniless.  My parents both grew up in S. Texas, and met and married there.  We'd visit the area often when I was a kid.  So being down there hit me hard with a “holy shit, this is where I’m from” reminder – sledgehammer hard.

What got to me most was the drive.  I stayed the night in Beeville.  Beeville, where my mother, poor as hell having just fled an abusive family situation in NOLA with her mother, landed in 1950 or so.  At one point, they bought a mangy old horse, which she rode to school, as other kids did back in those days.  I remember as a child going to visit family in S. Texas, and seeing the landscape of brush and thorns out my car window, broken up by spring wildflowers, took me right back.  My parents’ lives in S. Texas weren’t easy, and often weren’t happy.  Life was fucking hard there.  I'm sure it still is for plenty of folks.  But it was where their lives were lived, nonetheless.  It helped make them who they became.  And it’s where they met and ended up together.  So the place became part of my life.  The scenery rolling by as I drove home had childhood memories unrolling in my mind, like a highlight reel.  Mesquite thorns in my heel, fishing in the bays, sitting on a shaded patio while the adults smoked and drank and I eavesdropped, the smell of the summer dust, and the voices of people long-dead. 

I saw lots of oilpatch activity around Karnes City.  My family was oilpatch.  I know those people.  Those people raised me.  I don’t know what will come of the Texas oilpatch, long-term, but there’s no denying that it’s part of our identity.  I remembered visions of dirty boots, rough hands, the smell of hot vinyl car seats and dust as I tagged along with my grandfather to read meters.

Instead of plugging in my phone’s playlist in the car, I did something I like to do on long drives – hit “scan” on the radio, and see what’s up.  Lots of Spanish language radio.  Plenty of religious radio.  A mix of pop, hip-hop, the usual.  And plenty of country.  Including a station playing classics.  The very stuff we listened to in my dad’s old Lincoln as we drove down there during the heat of summer to see family.  I let some of the music take me back, as it can do.  I just rode the wave.  I remembered my mother’s laugh in the front seat of the car as my dad cracked some sort of joke.  My mom died almost three years ago.  Fucking hell I miss her.

Lost reception of that station.  Scanned over to another station, playing a mix of country, old, new, Americana.  Caught a song that sounded Robert Earl Keen-ish (but wasn’t).  But it got me in an REK mood.  So I popped that playlist on from my phone.  Goddamn I love me some REK.  Played some songs I love – songs most fans know well.  But then I went down the rabbit hole, and played some deep cuts.  Played a couple from the Live Album.  Got to “If I Were King.”

I started to sing along.  But I choked up, and couldn’t go on.  I just listened, as fat tears rolled down my face, I couldn’t stop ‘em from coming.  It’s the song I sang over and over to my infant daughter as a lullaby.  I’d hum the fiddle parts, and sing the words as she looked up at me and smiled, refusing to go to sleep as she was so wont to do (she was our lousy sleeper baby).  I’d sing it again.  And again.  Till her eyes got heavy, and finally closed.  Then I’d walk the floor with her a little more, just humming the tune softly till I knew she was out.

Tomorrow, we put that girl on a plane to London, where she is moving to find work, and hopefully start to find her way in life.  She graduated college in May, and since then, has been a bit lost.  She’s been working here, making money, and trying to figure out what’s next.  She wants to do something that utilizes her multi-language skills, and London has such jobs in spades.  She was eligible for a two-year blanket visa, so she activated it as of last week, and will be there tomorrow.  Maybe it’s where she’ll live and make her life.  Maybe not.  She’s not keen on Texas, and for her skillset, I doubt Texas is in her future; I probably don't want it to be, for her.  It struck me that our family has been in Texas for over 200 years, and away she goes, away our family goes, maybe never to return.  Until recently, that had never occurred to me – that our family’s run in Texas may be coming to a close.  Such is the way of the world.

I spent the drive with ghosts riding shotgun, listening to echoes, and pondering history.  Texas has been so formative to me.  I’m a child of its dirt, its people, its food, its flaws….all of it.  But my girl's getting on a plane, and from now on, maybe Texas is just a place she comes back and visits.  That hit me fucking hard.  That Texas is going to be in the rearview mirror.  It’s just a piece of dirt.  But goddammit, it’s my heart.  It’s so much of my heart.  And it always fucking will be.  And so will she.

 

Edited March 13 by Brisketexan

[Pato del Muerto 52,504]

*warshing

[Zepol87 9,188]

tl:dr

[mchookem 16,336]

are you hormonal?

 

haha just kidding. enjoyed reading this and share some of the sentiment (except my family roots are deep east Texas).

[tx 3 putt 76,975]

Anyone that gets sentimental about ‘Beeville’ has to be on their period 

[Brisketexan 105,151]

Just now, tx 3 putt said:

Anyone that gets sentimental about ‘Beeville’ has to be on their period 

It sure as hell ain't pretty.  Never was.  But it's where mom first found a safe place when she got to Texas.  And there sure were a lot of hard-working folks out and about today - work trucks all over.  Can't help but respect that.

[Braff Zacklin 13,579]

[Lat22 4,014]

2 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Anyone that gets sentimental about ‘Beeville’ has to be on their period 

I don’t know. I had a couple of epic nights at The Grand. 

[tx 3 putt 76,975]

5 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

It sure as hell ain't pretty.  Never was.  But it's where mom first found a safe place when she got to Texas.  And there sure were a lot of hard-working folks out and about today - work trucks all over.  Can't help but respect that.

my dad played two years at bee county before pan am 

[Brisketexan 105,151]

4 minutes ago, Lat22 said:

I don’t know. I had a couple of epic nights at The Grand. 

The bar they've put in at the Comfort Inn looks like it probably yields a damned entertaining time on the weekend.  If you're into that sort of thing.

[TwiceHorn 31,486]

Although we go back at least 150 years to the great metropolis of Rosalie, near other shining city on a hill Clarksville (where my granddad left on foot at age 16 in 1905), I have spent most of my time in Dallas, FW, and Austin. 

Spent a lot of outdoors in various places, including Possum Kingdom, of which I have fond memories. 

But, I can't get very sentimental about it. 

Edited March 13 by TwiceHorn

[bolverk 29,683]

1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

I spent the drive with ghosts riding shotgun, listening to echoes, and pondering history.  Texas has been so formative to me.  I’m a child of its dirt, its people, its food, its flaws….all of it.  But my girl's getting on a plane, and from now on, maybe Texas is just a place she comes back and visits.  That hit me fucking hard.  That Texas is going to be in the rearview mirror.  It’s just a piece of dirt.  But goddammit, it’s my heart.  It’s so much of my heart.  And it always fucking will be.  And so will she.

 

If I know anything, you can be assured that Texas will always be in that girl, no matter where she is.

[closetohumping 17,442]

You can leave Texas but it will never leave you.  That being said not sure I could ever move back

[RDCanecutter 26,446]

Brisket, you say your family is leaving Texas, but dammit, man, you're alone in a hotel in Beeville. No reason you couldn't sow a new crop to repopulate the area in 9 months.

[Brisketexan 105,151]

Brisket, you say your family is leaving Texas, but dammit, man, you're alone in a hotel in Beeville. No reason you couldn't sow a new crop to repopulate the area in 9 months.

My charm is more marketable in Sinton.

[SHOOTER12 8,810]

2 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Not sure where to put this.  But had to write it down.  Here seems as good a place as any.

Work took me to S. Texas the last couple of days, and while I was down there (and especially on the drive), a whole lot of family history – both old, and ongoing – washed the hell over me.  Hard, like "pounding me into the sand till I come up wet and sputtering."  My family roots in S. Texas are deep as hell, from before Texas was just Texas.  My daughter and I spent much of this past Sunday with my dad, recording stories and looking over family history, photos, and documents.  Looking at a particular document my dad pulled out of an old box, I realized that I had family here when it was “Coahuila y Tejas” (also reminding me that my Texan family history and Mexican family history overlap like hell).  GGGG uncle was big in the Mexican gov’t, had to work with Santa Anna to get shit done (and was one of the first Mexican officials to support deposing him).  True to family form, he died penniless.  My parents both grew up in S. Texas, and met and married there.  We'd visit the area often when I was a kid.  So being down there hit me hard with a “holy shit, this is where I’m from” reminder – sledgehammer hard.

What got to me most was the drive.  I stayed the night in Beeville.  Beeville, where my mother, poor as hell having just fled an abusive family situation in NOLA with her mother, landed in 1950 or so.  At one point, they bought a mangy old horse, which she rode to school, as other kids did back in those days.  I remember as a child going to visit family in S. Texas, and seeing the landscape of brush and thorns out my car window, broken up by spring wildflowers, took me right back.  My parents’ lives in S. Texas weren’t easy, and often weren’t happy.  Life was fucking hard there.  I'm sure it still is for plenty of folks.  But it was where their lives were lived, nonetheless.  It helped make them who they became.  And it’s where they met and ended up together.  So the place became part of my life.  The scenery rolling by as I drove home had childhood memories unrolling in my mind, like a highlight reel.  Mesquite thorns in my heel, fishing in the bays, sitting on a shaded patio while the adults smoked and drank and I eavesdropped, the smell of the summer dust, and the voices of people long-dead. 

I saw lots of oilpatch activity around Karnes City.  My family was oilpatch.  I know those people.  Those people raised me.  I don’t know what will come of the Texas oilpatch, long-term, but there’s no denying that it’s part of our identity.  I remembered visions of dirty boots, rough hands, the smell of hot vinyl car seats and dust as I tagged along with my grandfather to read meters.

Instead of plugging in my phone’s playlist in the car, I did something I like to do on long drives – hit “scan” on the radio, and see what’s up.  Lots of Spanish language radio.  Plenty of religious radio.  A mix of pop, hip-hop, the usual.  And plenty of country.  Including a station playing classics.  The very stuff we listened to in my dad’s old Lincoln as we drove down there during the heat of summer to see family.  I let some of the music take me back, as it can do.  I just rode the wave.  I remembered my mother’s laugh in the front seat of the car as my dad cracked some sort of joke.  My mom died almost three years ago.  Fucking hell I miss her.

Lost reception of that station.  Scanned over to another station, playing a mix of country, old, new, Americana.  Caught a song that sounded Robert Earl Keen-ish (but wasn’t).  But it got me in an REK mood.  So I popped that playlist on from my phone.  Goddamn I love me some REK.  Played some songs I love – songs most fans know well.  But then I went down the rabbit hole, and played some deep cuts.  Played a couple from the Live Album.  Got to “If I Were King.”

I started to sing along.  But I choked up, and couldn’t go on.  I just listened, as fat tears rolled down my face, I couldn’t stop ‘em from coming.  It’s the song I sang over and over to my infant daughter as a lullaby.  I’d hum the fiddle parts, and sing the words as she looked up at me and smiled, refusing to go to sleep as she was so wont to do (she was our lousy sleeper baby).  I’d sing it again.  And again.  Till her eyes got heavy, and finally closed.  Then I’d walk the floor with her a little more, just humming the tune softly till I knew she was out.

Tomorrow, we put that girl on a plane to London, where she is moving to find work, and hopefully start to find her way in life.  She graduated college in May, and since then, has been a bit lost.  She’s been working here, making money, and trying to figure out what’s next.  She wants to do something that utilizes her multi-language skills, and London has such jobs in spades.  She was eligible for a two-year blanket visa, so she activated it as of last week, and will be there tomorrow.  Maybe it’s where she’ll live and make her life.  Maybe not.  She’s not keen on Texas, and for her skillset, I doubt Texas is in her future; I probably don't want it to be, for her.  It struck me that our family has been in Texas for over 200 years, and away she goes, away our family goes, maybe never to return.  Until recently, that had never occurred to me – that our family’s run in Texas may be coming to a close.  Such is the way of the world.

I spent the drive with ghosts riding shotgun, listening to echoes, and pondering history.  Texas has been so formative to me.  I’m a child of its dirt, its people, its food, its flaws….all of it.  But my girl's getting on a plane, and from now on, maybe Texas is just a place she comes back and visits.  That hit me fucking hard.  That Texas is going to be in the rearview mirror.  It’s just a piece of dirt.  But goddammit, it’s my heart.  It’s so much of my heart.  And it always fucking will be.  And so will she.

 

What a wonderful story, and you tell it so well........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seriously, that was awesome, thank you for sharing that!

Edited March 14 by SHOOTER12

[RDCanecutter 26,446]

3 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

My charm is more marketable in Sinton.

That's fine, but you miss every shot you don't take. I notice you just rolled through Pettus. Probably 200 fertile legal-aged females there, but you're just a little too good for Pettus.

[Brisketexan 105,151]

That's fine, but you miss every shot you don't take. I notice you just rolled through Pettus. Probably 200 fertile legal-aged females there, but you're just a little too good for Pettus.

Skidmore had the billboard up celebrating the 6 students who made up the top 10% of their senior class. From the looks of em, at least 2 probably had decent looking moms. Keep your eye on Skidmore.

[troph 24,810]

4 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

That Texas is going to be in the rearview mirror.  It’s just a piece of dirt.  But goddammit, it’s my heart.  It’s so much of my heart.  And it always fucking will be. 

I’ll read the rest of the responses but your post was beautiful. We have a lot in common based on what you wrote. I drive to the coast the back way through the same area as karnes city on my way to rockport and the music speaks man, down to the bottom of my soul, that part where the river beneath it all flows. Core stuff and Texas washes over me too. Been in Texas for well over 150 years at least. Oil patch and factory workers. Then teachers and nurses. Then lawyers. I’m probably the last to have Texan kids, I may be the one that leaves, and when I do I’ll remember what you wrote. Texas is my heart too. It always fucking will be. 

well said, and good job dad. 

Edited March 14 by troph

[Armybrat 40,850]

Beautifully written family story, Brisket. Best wishes for your daughter in the UK.

Well, me & my family (roots are in Missouri) are newbs to Texas….arrived here in 1946 for 4 years at Forts Crockett & Sam, plus Camp Hood. 
Then after 10 years of other posts (six overseas in Puerto Rico & Taiwan) we returned to stay.

Three generations of my extended family are now native born Texans and none of them seem to be disposed to moving out of state. One nephew has been out of state for 25+ years, but he is returning for retirement this summer.

We like it here. No telling what will happen by 2150 though.

[DaysOff 7,951]

Your story reminded me my dad rode a horse named Rex to school in the 30s in a town east of Palacios Bay that no longer exists.

Texas isn't going anywhere. She can always come back.

[Macklemore 2,872]

[Helobious 9,454]

5 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

Anyone that gets sentimental about ‘Beeville’ has to be on their period 

It always pissed me off that their high school wasn’t the Beeville Bees. “Beeville Jones Trojans” is so fucking stupid.

[Hagbard Celine 10,867]

you forgot something.....  without you there is no london, multilingual, heading out to cast her lots.....

what is common amongst all of us?

what starts here, changes the world

[RollLeft 5,045]

That is some kind of rear mirror if she is leaving on a plane....;)

[RPM 26,322]

I lived in Refugio for a year. That's all I got.

[Al_4_ISU 12,464]

I really enjoyed reading that, Brisket.  I feel the same way about my home state.  Have for a long time.  Big reason I won't leave despite it going in a direction that makes me not recognize the place I've spent my entire life.  I'm raising my daughter here and I hope she can grow up to be the kind of strong, tough woman who can help effectuate change, but it seems far more likely that like your daughter, she'll put Iowa in the rearview and it will be part of her story, but not her future.

Edited March 14 by Al_4_ISU

[Deej 76,799]

You lost me at Robert Earl Keen. 

[Neonmoon 38,129]

13 hours ago, bolverk said:

If I know anything, you can be assured that Texas will always be in that girl, no matter where she is.

[Helobious 9,454]

Never heard of Robert Earl Keen but listened to the vid in OP. Said the genre is “country” but there wasn’t one line in there about driving a lifted truck or drinking beer on a Friday night. Gay af lol. 

[Brisketexan 105,151]

9 hours ago, RPM said:

I lived in Refugio for a year. That's all I got.

One of the most confusing place names in Texas.  I remember as a little kid, my parents talking about how we'd stop for gas in Referio.  We pass the city limits sign, stop at the next gas station.  I'm confused.  "You said we'd stop in Referio, but we're in Refugio."  One of my earliest experiences with Texas jacking up place names. 

Signed, 

A dude who listened to the morning traffic reports in Houston for years before he realized that "San Phillipy" was actually "San Felipe"

[YGIFS 19,450]

We've talked about this before but after reading this story, there is no way some of our ancestors didn't cross paths.  And there's a 50/50 chance our GGfathers said, "May our descendants meet one day, and keep it brief."  

Best wishes to your daughter in the UK.  She gets into a kinda rough situation, I got a guy there.  He's not our best fixer, but he's competent (he's from Texas).  

Great story though, have some rep.  And some waffles.  

Edited March 14 by YGIFS

[RPM 26,322]

4 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

One of the most confusing place names in Texas.  I remember as a little kid, my parents talking about how we'd stop for gas in Referio.  We pass the city limits sign, stop at the next gas station.  I'm confused.  "You said we'd stop in Referio, but we're in Refugio."  One of my earliest experiences with Texas jacking up place names. 

Signed, 

A dude who listened to the morning traffic reports in Houston for years before he realized that "San Phillipy" was actually "San Felipe"

Odd coinky dinky. I worked at KYOT-FM (Coyote Radio). My first words on the air were "Hello Re Fu Gio." People were running over each other to get in the studio. 

[Aqua Buddha 14,598]

30 posts in and no one has asked for pics of the daughter?  This place has lost its fastball.....

In all seriousness, congrats on raising a wonderful daughter.  At some point in her life, she'll think back and remember how Texas smells, whether it's triggered by a song, a memory, or any number of things.  Someone will ask where she's from, expecting a country but she'll say "I'm from Texas."  

Warts and all.....

[BabaYaga 15,299]

Headed to the ranch this weekend to wash in the much needed rain.  Taking my son with me.  Brisket's story is one of many that people try to express about their roots and where they come from.  Who they are.  We are only a few generations removed from our families living and dying off the land.  Ranching.  Farming.  Livestock.  Fighting to keep it.  It's not just a piece of dirt.  It's dirt our families fought and died on.  

[troph 24,810]

33 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

One of the most confusing place names in Texas.  I remember as a little kid, my parents talking about how we'd stop for gas in Referio.  We pass the city limits sign, stop at the next gas station.  I'm confused.  "You said we'd stop in Referio, but we're in Refugio."  One of my earliest experiences with Texas jacking up place names. 

Signed, 

A dude who listened to the morning traffic reports in Houston for years before he realized that "San Phillipy" was actually "San Felipe"

 

I prefer the version with Guy Clark doing the intro and exit... but this will do, the video here IS TOTALLY WORTH THE WATCH. This is one of my most fav songs to listen to on the drive Rockport... I always get a lump in my throat.

"... pronounce it referio, the city folks they don't know... looks like pa-la-see-os sounds like palashus..."

 

Edited March 14 by troph

[Trey3216 15,346]

"you are only coming through in waves

Your lips move, but I can't hear what you're saying"

 

 

 

Great story, Brisket.   I know how emotions can wash over us sometimes.  It can be overwhelming, and I'm glad the music was there to open the portal to transcendent thought.  

 

[crash_davis 23,113]

The below picture captures what I think Texas has become, or more specifically what the people of Texas have become. I'm happy you feel nostalgia for this state. I used to think this state was the shit. Now I just think it's shit.

Cool thing about history is that we can acknowledge it but are not bound to it. Here's to your daughter making the same memories in a new place. My daughters will do the same. They want no part of this state.

 

[Brisketexan 105,151]

36 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

At some point in her life, she'll think back and remember how Texas smells, whether it's triggered by a song, a memory, or any number of things.  Someone will ask where she's from, expecting a country but she'll say "I'm from Texas."  

Thankfully, I think she gets it.  She's lived in several countries already, and realized that while she loves them all, she's still a Texas girl.  And for that matter, the actual first item on her resume is "Cowgirl/ranch hand" (as COVID broke, she had to come home from college.  Needed something to do those5-6 months before her school figured out a way to re-open in the fall.  A friend of ours has a Longhorn ranch, and no place else was hiring during COVID....so there she went, to work cattle, the whole nine yards.  It's a conversation starter, at the very least).

She's got a lot to figure out.  But then, at her age, we all did.  At that age, I simultaneously thought I had it all figured out, and also had no fucking idea what I was doing (heavy emphasis on the second thing).  It's a harder age than society acknowledges.  She's bitter about Texas these days, but I too remember being happy to leave Houston behind (it was taking a beating economically those days) and make my life in Austin.  As experience and wisdom accumulated, my thoughts on Houston softened.  I now think it's a damned fine place to live and make your way in the world.  But it took distance and perspective to get me there.  And after 30+ years, I've realized that Houston will always be one of my "homes."  Maybe she'll feel that way about Austin and Texas one day.

[Trey3216 15,346]

1 hour ago, Helobious said:

Never heard of Robert Earl Keen but listened to the vid in OP. Said the genre is “country” but there wasn’t one line in there about driving a lifted truck or drinking beer on a Friday night. Gay af lol. 

[Brisketexan 105,151]

2 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

I'm happy you feel nostalgia for this state. I used to think this state was the shit. Now I just think it's shit.

Well, it's a contradiction.  Truth is, it always has been.  Texans can be kind and generous, and mean and spiteful.  I've shared before that I've been in small Texas towns where I've heard people say horrible, mean, racist shit....and people from that same community stopped, person after person, to help me when my truck was broken down.  They offered time, help (real help, getting under the hood with me).  So, Texas is a bunch of both.  Sure, I think the ethos, especially the public one, has shifted in the shitty direction, and has elevated "mean" for no fucking good reason, and it's awful and embarrassing. 

But it's a complicated world, and people are always different shades of gray.  Growing up, I experienced a lotta kindness and generosity from those oilpatch types.  I also heard the N-word from them, saw them get too drunk and into stupid fights, all the shit that wouldn't surprise you.

I don't know what to do with all of that. The worst of it makes me sad and angry.  But the best of it makes me spend a 3 hour drive thinking about the place that made me.

[YGIFS 19,450]

Yeah, Texas is unique in that it contains so many multitudes of people and geography.  But in the end, it's just a collection of good and bad people just like every other fucking corner of the planet.  Not a shocker. 

There's assholes and advocates in every little town and every big city.  The issue becomes not elevating the assholes.  Unless she says it's okay.   

[83Horn 1,641]

Perhaps, within a year or so your daughter will see this as her theme song:

Nice write-up you provided.  I enjoyed reading it.  Although my Texas roots are wafer thin compared to yours, and I haven't lived in Texas since graduating from UT in 1983, I still feel more Texan than Virginian, and I've been here since leaving Texas.  As others have stated above, once Texas becomes part of your life, it's always part of your life.

[Aqua Buddha 14,598]

30 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Thankfully, I think she gets it.  She's lived in several countries already, and realized that while she loves them all, she's still a Texas girl.  And for that matter, the actual first item on her resume is "Cowgirl/ranch hand" (as COVID broke, she had to come home from college.  Needed something to do those5-6 months before her school figured out a way to re-open in the fall.  A friend of ours has a Longhorn ranch, and no place else was hiring during COVID....so there she went, to work cattle, the whole nine yards.  It's a conversation starter, at the very least).

She's got a lot to figure out.  But then, at her age, we all did.  At that age, I simultaneously thought I had it all figured out, and also had no fucking idea what I was doing (heavy emphasis on the second thing).  It's a harder age than society acknowledges.  She's bitter about Texas these days, but I too remember being happy to leave Houston behind (it was taking a beating economically those days) and make my life in Austin.  As experience and wisdom accumulated, my thoughts on Houston softened.  I now think it's a damned fine place to live and make your way in the world.  But it took distance and perspective to get me there.  And after 30+ years, I've realized that Houston will always be one of my "homes."  Maybe she'll feel that way about Austin and Texas one day.

I agree with you on your 20's.  Might be the worst decade, actually.  We're all told that after we graduate from college, we'll be making big money and living the life.  Reality is we have crappy jobs and no money and are completely clueless about what we want.  I wouldn't do over my 20's for anything.  HS, college, and even my 30's, yes.  20's?  Hell no.

Having "cowgirl/ranch hand" on the resume is awesome.  I come across tons of resumes and anything original sticks out.  THAT would stick out.  Great conversation starter.  She should keep it on there as long as she can.

[Aqua Buddha 14,598]

36 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

The below picture captures what I think Texas has become, or more specifically what the people of Texas have become. I'm happy you feel nostalgia for this state. I used to think this state was the shit. Now I just think it's shit.

Cool thing about history is that we can acknowledge it but are not bound to it. Here's to your daughter making the same memories in a new place. My daughters will do the same. They want no part of this state.

 

I thought the bookend story arc of Friday Night Lights summed that up and it was my feeling as well.  The premier episode was titled "Texas Forever."  The second to last episode was titled "Texas Whatever."  The characters in the story arc were much like your view and mine.  They became disillusioned with Texas and while it was a part of all of their pasts, the future was someone else for others.

[Beau Vine 54,231]

Counterpoint: Pornhub just shut down Texas.  Time to GTFO!

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I blame Brisket somehow.

[Frank Drebin 5,638]

People voting with their feet happens all over this world and this country.  Some states are gaining population.  Others are losing it. 

Good luck to your daughter wherever she lands.

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22 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

I blame Brisket somehow.

pretty sure it's my people's fault.

[Brisketexan 105,151]

3 minutes ago, troph said:

pretty sure it's my people's fault.

Look....ENOUGH with the lawyer-bashing around here!