RIDING DRAG / WHAT'S GREAT ABOUT AMERICA

We had intended to have the barn painted by this time. The plan was to have a big American flag painted on the north side facing the county road as a tribute to our country. My great-nephew Brandon came to spend the summer with his Mamo Angel and work part-time on the 4DH. He was going to paint the barn and help me paint the flag. But you know what they say about best laid plans.

God made it possible for Husband to take a spill and in the ensuing doctor's appointment they found the tumor in his kidney. Surgery has gone well and though he has a long road of healing ahead things are looking up.

In a time when the news is filled with so many stories about criminal youth, I would like to share about those kind of kids who never recieve the attention they deserve. Brandon is one of those kids. He came to spend the summer doing a few chores around the ranch, do a few projects for his great-grandpa and the rest of his time would be spent having fun. We planned lots of afternoons in the pool and many sightseeing excursions.

Then Husband had surgery and great-grandpa needed more help and Brandon's part-time work turned full-time. He has helped Chief and our kids around the ranch with feeding and watering, hauling, caring for horses, cattle and pets, as well as mowing and hauling hay. He has also been working full days all week in the warehouse at Tucker Janitorial Supply. Has he complained that this was not the summer he bargained for? No.

Instead he has pitched in and done more than expected. What a truly remarkable sixteen year old! He will never get the credit he deserves. He will never be on the nightly news or make front page headlines; but he should. And so should all those other good kids out who make America Great.

This Independence Day please take the time to tell a Great Young America how proud you are of them. They are the future and salvation of this country. Thanks Brandon, for being a good example of what every kid should aspire to be!

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For more information on Debra Coppinger Hill go to AlwaysCowboy.com.

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RIDING DRAG with DEBRA COPPINGER HILL is featured each week at ALWAYS COWBOY where Debra is a Resident Western Poet. Join her and her Cowboy Friends for Cowboy Poetry, News  Events. http://alwayscowboy.net/debra_coppinger_hill_poetry.html