Cowboy Funeral

We live in a small town in the Texas panhandle. Last week a elderly gentleman passed away from cancer. He had lived his whole life in the area. Yesterday was his funeral. It was a Cowboy funeral.

There was a short service at the old school because the church was too small to hold the 100's of people who attended the service. His flag draped coffin was loaded onto the back of horse drawn wagon. One rider led the procession along side the old Cowboy's saddled horse. Behind the wagon were a dozen or so of his friends and family on horseback. The procession went around our small town and then out to the town cemetery, about a 1/2 mile to the east. The local county Sheriff deputies directed traffic.

There must have been over 100 cars lined up on the county rode leading to the cemetery. An occasional oil field truck tried to come by but they were turned around by the deputies.

We had only met the man briefly and so we did not attend the funeral. But from our little house we could look out to the east and see the cemetery on the hill. It was full of people, horses, and cars.

It looked to me that that gentleman had lived a successful life. When 100's of people will go from the service to the grave side, you know that person made a mark in many people's lives. It was one of the most moving things I have witnessed in a long time.

It was a beautiful June morning under the bright blue Texas sky.