A good friend recently invited me to a private screening of the epic 1956 movie, Giant, starring Rock Hudson, James Dean, and Liz Taylor. We watched the movie with a couple of versatile Texas cowboys named Dale Berry and Robert (Bob) Hinkle. Before Tom Landry ever coached the Dallas Cowboys, Bob had the good fortune to work for Giant director George Stevens as the “cowboy coach” for stars Rock Hudson and James Dean.
When the movie finished playing Dale picked up his guitar. With a remarkably strong voice, and surprisingly nimble 80 year-old fingers, Dale picked and sang:
I grew up dreamin’,Of bein’ a cowboy,
And lovin’ the cowboy ways.
Pursuin’ a life,
Of my high-ridin’ heroes,
I burned up my childhood days . . .
The song took me back to a better place and time, when the world’s troubles weren’t yet my own, as evidenced by the pictures of me on a pony and in my own personal wagon train at an early age. I had a privileged childhood, not because we were wealthy, but because my parents loved me, and they were willing to sacrifice for me and my siblings.
My father only wears cowboy hats for pictures, but this picture of him as a young teen during WWII shows his own love of the cowboy ways. You can tell from his picture who helped me pick out my first cowboy hat.
Dad didn't always look like a cowboy, but the cowboy tenacity and sense of fair play remains to this day. After suffering a heart attack and a series of strokes, he’s no longer the tall, strong man that he once was, but he doesn’t waste time complaining about the hand he’s been dealt. He loves life and he loves his wife, though not in that order.
My father only wears cowboy hats for pictures, but this picture of him as a young teen during WWII shows his own love of the cowboy ways. You can tell from his picture who helped me pick out my first cowboy hat.
Dad didn't always look like a cowboy, but the cowboy tenacity and sense of fair play remains to this day. After suffering a heart attack and a series of strokes, he’s no longer the tall, strong man that he once was, but he doesn’t waste time complaining about the hand he’s been dealt. He loves life and he loves his wife, though not in that order.
Meeting a couple of cowboy icons like Bob Hinkle and Dale Berry was an incredible experience. But I think if instead of growing up to be a cowboy I grew up to be just a little bit like my dad, Bob and Dale would both approve.
