What can I tell you about Ben Cartwright? Most people know
him around here, already. He has a pretty good reputation in these
parts. He's
known as a fair man, a good employer, a helpful neighbour and someone
you
instinctively know you can trust. Once you have Ben Cartwright as a
friend,
you've got him for life; he's that kind of a guy, loyal and faithful
and
dependable.
Now, I'm luckier than most of those folks, cos I
also know
him as a father, and that role, I reckon, is his best one.
All my life he's been there for me. When I was
tiny, he
would carry me around the yard and take me to see the horses. When I
started to
walk, if I fell and hurt myself, he was always there to pick me up and
give me
a hug. He'd clean my grazed knees and then give them a magic kiss that
made
everything better again. When I was a bit bigger and I had a fight at
school,
or got into trouble with Miss Jones, he'd sit me on his knee and wipe
away my
tears, and talk me through whatever was bothering me, and suddenly
things would
look a whole lot better.
Every night, after supper, I'd sit on his lap and
we'd have
a cuddle and he'd tell me a story about when he was a little boy, or
when he
was at sea, and then he'd settle me into bed and kiss me goodnight, and
I'd
feel warm and safe and loved.
If I had a nightmare (and I still do have them,
now and
again) he'd be there, gently rubbing the back of my neck and reassuring
me that
all would be well. Hearing him say so, in that wonderful voice of his,
was
enough to convince me that nothing could harm me. Papa was there and he
would
always chase away my fears and take care of me.
As I've gotten older, you'd think that I might
have lost a
bit of that blind faith I had in him, you know gotten a bit more
cynical,
realised that he's only a man, made out of flesh and blood, like any
other, but I haven't, not really. You see, I do know all that, but it
doesn't
really matter if he can't really solve all my problems for me, or if he
can't
put right all the wrongs in the world, like I used
to think he could. I still know that he's my Pa and he loves me and
he'll
always do his best for me, Adam and Hoss, and that's all that matters.
And I also know that he knows that we love him,
too, but
it's good to have this opportunity to remind him that we do.
Happy Father's Day, Pa
From your loving sons
Adam, Hoss and Little Joe
XXX
By: Lynne C.