Marci Whitehurst

My kids are fighting the crud right now – with the sickness here, you'd think we walk around licking doorknobs, light switches and the bottom of our boots. (We don't.) I've made soups, cleaned, disinfected and opened windows. I think it helps.

Recent news articles and talk shows have discussed the issue of upcoming generations being overwhelmed by difficulty or challenge. One thought behind this is that kids these days have it “too easy.”

My husband surprised me.

This August, we stopped to visit with friends. Their dog had a litter of pups about eight weeks earlier. The kids and I had been "working" on my hubby to say yes to a puppy, but he refused. His heart still ached for the last one.

A few nights ago, my hubby was out moving cows with friends. He texted me at 7:30 telling me they were almost done and he'd see me soon. Before long, it was 8:30. No hubby. Then 9:30. 10:30 crept up, no word.

The grass is greening up; babies are jumping around fields; and it's time for some spring-cleaning in the yard. It was in the yard where I found hundreds of bones. OK, not hundreds, but a lot. I found them in my flower beds, the grass and under the porch. Apparently hunting season was good for our cow dogs.

It's been noted that after several years of marriage, couples begin to finish each other's sentences and understand certain phrases to which they alone are privy. I'm certain this is true among cowboys as well. After 17 years of marriage though, I'm still uncertain of some of my hubby's grunts, hand motions and word combinations.