I saw the hat first… The old, gray hat of many winters…
Tattered and worn around the edges
Crunched in the middle…Smudged and dirty in spots
A solid crease straight down the middle
Truly a personality of its very own.

It sat on the head of an aging, but handsome cowboy
Worn by the years of riding the open range…
Skin like leather…tanned and healthy
Weathered by the harsh winters and blazing summers
Spent in the great outdoors.

Proud and confident in his ways,
Strong and proud…
Savoring the flavor of each and every day
A champion in his own way…
His word was his bond… By his words he stood firm
Serving his country proudly… Living his life fully day by day
Never letting the goodness show… He’d never let anyone know
The gentleness within this one man’s soul.

Riding the broncs and bulls of the old rodeo days
Wild and crazy…He followed his dreams through the dusty haze
Living honest and free…Lover of nature, horses, animals
To be free and loved was all he ever wanted
Riding the wide open spaces of the western ranges
Riding free and living free in the wide open spaces.

His smile was a sly one…
The corners of his mouth turned up ever so slightly
His gentle, gray eyes twinkled with an air of mischief
His nose was tickled with the slight graying mustache on his upper lip
The slight laugh lines and weathered crows feet served only to enhance his rugged good looks.

I was impressed by his look of confidence
Secure and knowing in his ways…Proud…Strong…and Handsome
Giving the appearance of a much younger man…many years his junior
He spoke fondly of the past and his love of being free
Lamenting often of the open spaces for as far as one could see.

He knows his world is gone now…He yearns for the past
Knowing all too well that this old cowboy has come to the NOW…Today
The present…and Life as he knew it would not last.
He’s a page of history now…Only to rise again some day
Another time…Another place…Sadly, his world lays in decay.
The world of technology has replaced his ‘old world’.
But it will never take the memories of this old man
The man in the ‘old gray hat’…He was truly a man of the land.

The man in the old gray hat is silent now
Sharing his memories of the ‘good old days', Savoring the sweetness
Was all he ever knew…Now, there will be no more stories…
No more riding the range free and proud

Leaving behind the loves of his life…
His family, his friends, his animals and his loving wife.
His love of the great outdoors is but a memory now
Known by all who knew him…
As the “man who chased that cow.”