Make the Time, Take the Time…Ohana

Posted August 4, 2017 by Prairie Wife - 4 comments

I don’t care who are, your life is busy.

Single with no kids, married with one child or a grandma of 10…your life is busy.

It’s hard to make time for the things we HAVE to do, and sometimes it seems impossible to fit in the things we WANT to do.

We all have those friends that we simply don’t get to see enough.

Perhaps it’s a distance issue. Maybe a time or different point of life issue. Whatever the reason…you think of them often, send texts and check them out on Facebook and think “I wish I could see them more.”

In March a good friend of ours, Peter Campbell, unexpectedly passed away. 

He was one of The Cowboys’ few close friends, a hero to our children, and his wife is someone that I look up to and admire in too many ways to count.

His death was a reminder that we are never promised a tomorrow. We found ourselves making more effort to spend quality time with loved ones,  and stopping to send that little text or make that call when someone crossed our mind.

But, I admit that as always with time, the pain becomes easier to bear and the lessons are all to often forgotten.

Every August for the last 9 years The Cowboy and I have gathered up The Cowkids (the number obviously growing every few years) and headed down to Wheatland for the Hat Creek Ranch Annual Horse Clinic held at Peter and Trina’s ranch.

I can see our regular readers raising their eyebrows in puzzlement. They know that as much as I am immersing myself in the Wyoming life…horses still make me cry…

While these clinics are an amazing opportunity to grow as a horseman (or woman) we attend for the good company and fun times.

You’d think after hours on horse back riding across the prairie or working in the barn, these fine folks would be too tired to eat, much less have a little fun. But, you’re wrong.

Once they have the dust washed off (or at least brushed off) it’s time for cold drinks, great food and wonderful conversation. Each year brings some regulars back as well as a few new faces, and I love catching up with old friends and meeting new ones.

The Cowkids run wild and  have the time of their lives. From playing with all the cats and dogs to rock climbing and charming new friends into getting them soda, they all moan and groan when we announce it’s time to leave.

I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I felt Peter’s absence, and I’m sure my first few hugs with Trina were probably way too long and tight (thank goodness she could handle it).

But, at the risk of sounding condescending, the main feeling I had was not sorrow but, pride.

As I sat back and watched as people milled around and chatted, worked together to do chores, ate food and told stories I was just so damn proud.

Proud of Trina and how she embodies strength.

To be strong doesn’t mean to never cry, to be strong means you cry while walking forward.

Proud of these people who make the time, and take the time to attend clinics like this.

Not because they HAVE to but, because they WANT to.

Proud to be counted as part of this family or as Trina always calls it, Ohana.

As we drove back the hotel with a carful of tired happy Cowkids, our hearts full of both old and new memories, The Cowboy reached out and held my hand.

It was one of those moments where no words were needed to explain what we were feeling.

Make the time.

Take the time.

Categories: Life As It Happens, Prairie Life

Tags: , family, friends, horse clinics, life, make time, ohana, support, time, Your Inner Cowgirl