a love letter to the lone star state

 

Dear Texas,

Today is your day. From the panhandle to the coast, from El Paso to Beaumont, proud Texans are celebrating you on this special Go Texan Day. There are other official state holidays, but c’mon, this is really your big day. We’re especially excited in Houston, because Go Texan Day means it’s time to rodeo! We will make trip after trip to the largest rodeo in the world. We’ll swoon at the sight of folks like Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, we’ll dance to Tejano music and eat too much funnel cake at the carnival. We can’t wait!

Texas, you’re not the only home I’ve ever known, but you’re the only place I’ve ever called home. Like my parents, I was born here and I’ll die here. Steve and I will explore you with our children, like we did with our parents. We’ll camp in Big Ben, fish in the Gulf of Mexico, wade through creeks in the Hill Country, chase tumbleweeds in Amarillo, dance at Gruene Hall and count the stars from tents in our backyard.

We’ll visit the State Fair in Dallas, we’ll smash cascarones at Fiesta in San Antonio and we’ll take Ellen and Charlie on lots of road trips to Austin so they can see why we love the University of Texas, live music and BBQ from The Salt Lick.

Texas, you really are one of the great loves of my life.

And, for that reason, I have to tell you that I’m struggling. I’m drawn to your fierce independence, but ignoring the truth of interdependence is dangerous. You seem to refuse to accept the fact that we are all inextricably connected to each other. The Eyes of Texas need to open wider and focus more clearly on our shared humanity.

We have the largest prison population in the country and lead the US in executions.  Our most vulnerable Texans – the poor, the sick and elderly – are hurting. Texas almost always has the highest number of uninsured children and working poor families in the US. Across the state, the serious shortage of mental health services has turned into a real crisis. We're not taking care of our own.

And now, just today, I read in Newsweek that if Texas were a country, it would be the world's eighth-largest emitter of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. The stars at night may be big and bright, but how long we’ll we be able to see them from the heart of Texas?

These are NOT problems that we can back-slap, belly laugh or “Aww shucks” away.

 

I love you, but things have to change.

 

See that little cowboy at the top of the page? See him right here, sitting in my lap this  morning at his school's Rodeo Round-up? I’m raising him and his beautiful sister in this great state.

I’ll do my part, but I need your help. We are big-hearted, kind and capable people, so, as we say in these parts, “Let’s grab the bull by the horns!”

Love,
Brené

born in San Antonio
schooled at the University of Texas-Austin
married at 100-year-old honky-tonk on Cibilo Creek
make a living at University of Houston
birthed two kids at Texas Medical Center
raising a family in Houston
playing in the hill country

fishing in Port Aransas
finding faith, hope and love under the Texas sky

Comments

[dawn]

Texas, Texas, Texas. Our kids take a whole year course in public school called, Texas History and our kids do a pledge each day to Texas. You should see the wierd looks we get when we have visitors from other states and they hear our kids pledge to Texas each day after the big Pledge. You've either got to love it or think we are a bit ____________; you fill in the blank.

[celticbuffy]

I'm not a fellow Texan but I LOVE Port A!

[Melody A.]

Right on!