I was so busy getting rid of 2020 that I let some of 2021 slip up on me. 

Yes, we did see the New Year in, well close anyway, because I figure 9:00 o’clock pm is a good all-around time to finish reveling! Then some more bowl games New Year’s Day, but the month held more. 

Like birthdays for some, including the triplet’s 22nd. So, after a month or so, I am catching up. And now it is February. 

This morning on February 2nd, Punxsutawney Phil, the fabled prognosticator from Pennsylvania, has seen his shadow and predicts six more weeks of winter. If he had not seen his shadow, we would only have to endure a month and a half before winter was finished. 

Texas Pete, a rangy rattlesnake, concurs and states that we will have to endure six weeks of 70-to-80-degree days before we can enjoy spring weather in our Texas way. 

With that out of the way, we can plan to enjoy Valentine Day. The problem is that I still have not got a Valentine Card and a present for my young bride Stella, but I will. You see that woman has put up with my mangy hide for pert near 57 years, 61 if you use her math! 

So, I had better get busy on that task because deadlines will slip up on you. I have become pretty partial to that lady.

 Infact, it is important to me that she hears me tell her “I love you” every chance I get. 

If I may, my advice to the male population is to pay attention to that old Charlie Pride song where he says, “Kiss an angel in the morning…and tell her that you love her when you get back home!” 

But I still must get a card and a present, after all, how tough can that job be? Speaking of Valentine Day, you can find references in the Bible. 

In the Gospel of Matthew, when the Pharisees were testing Jesus, they asked Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

 And he said to them, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 

Join us at First Baptist Church Marlin to share in the love of Jesus. Continuing with the romance and February love theme, allow me to leave you with this poem I wrote for my young bride whom I have dearly loved for more than 60 years. 

You have got to give the woman credit…she doesn’t give up easily! I sure love my young bride Stella! 

Cowboy’s Predicament

Well sir, Valentines Day had come an’ gone,

An’ Ol’ Jim was in a sweat,

Sometimes life makes a feller moan an’ groan,

Like…when you just up an’ forget!

There’s no doubt, he’d be in the doghouse now,

‘Cuz what in the world could he do?

This was a deed he could not disavow,

An’ by now, everybody knew!

So, by end ‘o day, he’d head straight for town,

Tie up in front of the drug store,

He’d buy some truck an’ put his money down,

This would make atones… he was shore!

He took off his dusty hat an’ said a little prayer,

Asked the Good Lord to help him out,

Help him know what words to say once he got there,

Maybe take away his doubt.

When he gets home, his bride will hug his neck,

An’ he’d breathe a sigh of relief,

Then on his jaw, she’d plant a little peck,

An’ he’d be as smug as a thief.

He stopped by headquarters to show his boss,

An’ get advice ‘bout what he thought,

He said, “Son, you’d best get on yore knees at the Cross,

‘Cuz I shore think she’ll be distraught.”

“A woman shore ‘nuff likes candy an’ flowers,

But a peppermint cane won’t do!

An’ I reckon yore in for some bad hours,

‘Cuz  I ‘spect you will get what you are due!”

The boss just spit ‘twix his boots an’ shook his head,

He warn’t sure what to recommend,

So, he told Ol’ Jim that he could bed down in the shed,

He figgered this marriage would end.

Well, Ol’ Jim allows, there warn’t much selection,

I done the best a feller could!

Like when you go in the wrong direction,

You’re hopin’ you’ll be understood!

Now, a cowboy has plenty of try an’ grit,

An’ he figgered to make his play,

They’d been through thick an’ thin, she would not quit,

At least that’s what he hoped that day.

So, he quietly said a word of thanks to the Lord,

For helpin’ him throughout this day,

Providin’ him a chance, no matter how hard,

Helpin’ him all along the way.

An’ wonders of wonders, she took it in stride!

‘Cuz she was a quality gal.

Ol’ Jim breathed a sigh of relief an’ swelled up with pride,

Most folk don’t have this kind of pal.

Now I ‘spect you wonders at this outcome,

‘Bout this fine lady an’ her plan,

Well, it’s plain to see… an’ will be by some,

See, she shore ‘nuff loved her man.

Now the moral to this story is plain,

Though Ol’ Jim shore ain’t got a clue,

To think bad of him would be inhumane,

‘Cuz cowboys need lovin’ too!

‘Cuz a feller seems to get farther behind,

An’ his thinkin’ gets muddled up,

When thoughts of his true love boogles his mind,

Got no more sense than a speckled pup!

They say a man’s lucky to love a woman,

that loves him back an’ won’t bend,

Well, his young bride Stella rode for the brand,

‘Cuz that ol’ card read, “TO A GOOD FRIEND!”

© Ol’ Jim Cathey    

Tell your Darlin’ that you love her!

Pray for our Nation.

God Bless each of you and God Bless America!