Even If They Don't Ride Horses Anymore
Thinking Better of It. Episode 15.
Betty Lou took off her apron and slowly walked outside and down the dusty road to meet Jacob. He carried something in his hand. He waved to her smiling and she waved back and smiled too. He called out to her, “I told you I’d be back!”
She cried out, “I told you I’d be lookin’ down the road for you!”
They ran the last few yards that separated them on that dusty road as the dust swirled all around them. Jacob was glad to be back and Betty Lou was glad he was back. “Jason never came back, but you’ve come back Jacob, you’ve come back.” And they looked at each other and just smiled.
Then after what seemed the longest time, Jacob started, “I’m so sorry I left this place, and you, but let me show you why. Look, this is a book of the Strong family. It goes back to before the War, those generations up to my grandkids. I wanted the lives that lived here to be remembered. It has been a special place that soon will be no more as it is now, the times are changin’, and I felt this urgency to get it all down to always be remembered long after I’m gone.
“Uncle Harold has a publisher friend who sponsored me. He intends to publish our story to a wide audience. He thinks it will sell really good. He thinks I’m a bona fide writer if you can believe it. He should know I have no idea what I am doing. But the best thing is, we will have a complete book to pass down to the generations of our family and hopefully over the years to come someone will choose to record the stories of the next generations.
“The cover is blue like the wooden box that Aunt Daisy thought was so rural Kansas and the cover has Jake’s picture and your note to me. Both very special to me. And the title I picked is “Even If They Don’t Ride Horses Anymore” from what Jake had said when he handed me the picture that day. It reflects the changing times that was the extra boost for me to do something like this. What do you think Betty Lou? Do you like it?”
Betty Lou looked at Jacob and just couldn’t believe what she had heard. “I don’t know what to say. What an amazing thing you have done for your family. And keepin’ it secret and all. I do believe I would have just had to spill it all out myself!”
Jacob looked at Betty Lou and they both laughed and laughed. “Betty Lou, did you really know it was me coming down the road or did you for a minute think it could be Jason after all those years?”
“Oh, of course, I knew it was you! The day you left it seems I stopped looking down the road for Jason and starting looking for you, and that’s the truth.
“It’s good to have you back Jacob. I did miss you, we all missed you, it wasn’t the same without you. A moment didn’t go by without thinking about you and hoping everything was alright and you’d be back soon. You did a wonderful thing for your family. I’m proud of you.”
“I missed you Betty Lou. It’s so good to be back home.” Jacob thought then about something else he had brought home with him, something that was just for Betty Lou. He began to reach into his pocket for it and then, suddenly, thought better of it.
Previous Episodes. Even If They Don’t Ride Horses Anymore
Aunt Daisy & Caleb. Episode 1
July 4th, 1900. Episode 2
Keepsakes. Episode 3
A Better Way. Episode 4
Unfinished Business. Episode 5
Looking Down That Road. Episode 6
Not Looking Back Any More. Episode 7
The Wheels of Time Turn. Episode 8
The Blue Box. Episode 9
It’s Time to “Bring It.”Episode 10
Another Day Far From Home. Episode 11
Time Marches On. Episode 12
Getting Ready to Go Home Again. Episode 13
Just Like He Said He Would. Episode 14.
