Riding into the Sunset

When I listened to the message on

my phone machine, it said:

Tracy passed away

Memories flooded in: I saw him

currying a horse, jumping high to

hook that basketball through the hoop!

A photograph on his mom’s mantle

in his navy uniform, white sailor cap

topping off his perfectly combed blond hair

A hard-hat and suspenders and steel-toed

logging boots covered from top to bottom

with grit and grease- always in motion-

engaged with Life

Tracy was ambitious-he once told me

that he planned to be a millionaire by age 50

That amazed me because he was logging

at the time-I was just a kid-What did I know?

Tracy was a hard worker and he achieved much:

He bought our family dairy farm, nearly a half section

before he was 40!

He and Liz raised their kids in our beloved ranch house

He imported his horses into our cow barn

Tracy was a friendly neighbor and

I always thought that if  the farm had to be sold,

 so glad that it was to him!

In my nostalgia and reverie:

At sunset, I saw a horseman wave, then lift his hat high,

his horse reared up in a Lone Ranger salute

He wheeled the stud around and rode west

into the orange and pink painted horizon

until he disappeared- It was such a grand good-bye

I could not help but smile

 Tracy has ridden on to meet his loved ones in

the pastures of Heaven

Good-bye, Tracy! Fare-the-well, father, brother, son

and friend!

From Rainy (Meyer) Knight

In memory of Tracy Wayne Musgrove, February 14, 1942- February 17, 2015