{"id":12160,"date":"2002-02-01T18:33:33","date_gmt":"2002-02-01T23:33:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=12160"},"modified":"2025-02-27T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T17:05:06","slug":"happy-birthday-pa-by-debbieb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=12160","title":{"rendered":"Happy Birthday Pa! (by DebbieB)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Joe’s down in Texas on Pa’s birthday…but he hasn’t forgotten his father’s special day.\u00a0 He has written a letter home to wish Ben a Happy Birthday.<\/p>\n

Rated:\u00a0 <\/strong>G\u00a0 (780 words)<\/p>\n

Happy Birthday Pa!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear Pa,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As usual, you\u2019ve sent me off on business again when I should be at home with you. Is it I, or am I imagining that you must surely be trying to get rid of me? I hope I haven\u2019t been such a rapscallion that you can\u2019t bear the sight of me anymore!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019m just ragging you a little, I know that you love me\u2026haven\u2019t you told me so, time after time? Sure, I\u2019m all grown up now, but I just wanted you to know that no matter how old I get\u2026you\u2019ll always be older\u2026hahahhahahaa\u2026.sorry, Pa, but since it\u2019s your birthday, I couldn\u2019t help but tease you some. After all, without you\u2026where would I be, or better yet, would I be? I think not, cause I am who I am and what I am, all because you are who and what you are.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I know I\u2019m probably not making much sense, Pa\u2026but then, do I ever? Not very often, I\u2019m not educated and smart like big brother Adam. Nor do I rarely think with my heart like Hoss, I\u2019m just Joe\u2026hot blooded, hot tempered, hot shot\u2026yep, that\u2019s me all right.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All kidding aside Pa, I\u2019m writing just to wish you Happy Birthday and to tell you how much I love you. I know some men would laugh if they knew I was writing a \u2018love\u2019 letter to my father, but I don\u2019t care. It\u2019s always been easier to say on paper what it\u2019s hard to say when standing face to face with the man who has given you life, and who\u2019d give his life, without question, for mine. It\u2019s hard to put into words what I feel in my heart when I stop to think of everything that you\u2019ve sacrificed for me, the things that you\u2019ve gone out of your way to do for me, to provide me with, to teach me.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019m a better man today because of your guidance, your devotion and dedication\u2026and your determination to make me into a respectable human being. I don\u2019t think that if I live to be one hundred, that I\u2019d ever be the man you are, at least in my eyes. You\u2019re about the most honorable, righteous, law-abiding man I know, and I know I\u2019ll never be able to match your grace and your compassion, or your ability to forgive.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When I was little and I\u2019d follow behind you, trying to place my foot into your footprints, I think I knew even back then that I\u2019d always be lacking in comparison to how you lived your life and how I\u2019d end up living my life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But don\u2019t fret yourself by these words, Pa. I\u2019ve learned your lessons well, or at least I hope I have; I know I\u2019ve tried my darnedest too. You\u2019ve gone out of your way to see that I haven\u2019t ended up in a jail cell or swinging from a rope, God forbid! If ever there was a man more dedicated to his sons than you have been, I\u2019ve yet to meet him, and don\u2019t think I ever will either. I don\u2019t believe that there are two such men alive today. You are a special father, a man created of God, with the qualities by which God expects all fathers to be patterned by. But few meet those standards, yet way out here in this wild, untamed land there lives one, one man, one father that rises above all the rest, my Pa, Ben Cartwright. Do you have any inkling how very proud I am, knowing that the perfection that God strove so hard to deliver to fathers, of all who have fathered a child, you have come the closest to being that perfect father, at least in my eyes you have. And for being your son, I have to tell you Pa, I\u2019ve dropped to my knees many times during the course of my life, just to tell God, thank you for making me your son.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I wish you the best today, Pa. I hope that everything you wish for comes true. I haven\u2019t had much time to buy you a present, what with being way down here in Texas, but I have something personal to give to you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today, on this special day, I give to you, of myself, from my heart. You have my respect, my admiration, my loyalty, and my best wishes for a super birthday. But most of all, Pa\u2026you have my love. I hope it\u2019s enough; it\u2019s all I have to give.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Respectfully,<\/p>\n

Your son,<\/p>\n

Joseph Francis Cartwright<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tags:\u00a0 Adam Cartwright,\u00a0Ben Cartwright,\u00a0Hoss Cartwright,\u00a0Joe \/ Little Joe Cartwright<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/g><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0\u00a0 Joe’s down in Texas on Pa’s birthday…but he hasn’t forgotten his father’s special day.\u00a0 He has written a letter home to wish Ben a Happy Birthday.<\/p>\n

Rated:\u00a0 G\u00a0 (780 words)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9052,"featured_media":8421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","category-short-stories","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-8-id"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":1212,"today_views":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Ben-Draw.jpg?fit=278%2C354&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":48092,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=48092","url_meta":{"origin":12160,"position":0},"title":"Little Joe’s Seventh Birthday (by muffinstuffin)","author":"BZTrailRiders","date":"October 31, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary: This is a story I wrote many years ago. Thought you might like to read it. It's just a bit of a fun birthday story. Rating: G, Word Count: 757","rel":"","context":"In "Drama"","block_context":{"text":"Drama","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/frontporch.jpg?fit=439%2C305&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":60064,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=60064","url_meta":{"origin":12160,"position":1},"title":"I’m Already There (by Wrangler)","author":"Wrangler","date":"September 15, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary: Little Joe doesn't know what to do with himself when Pa is delayed and can't make his seventeenth birthday. A simple sweet tale. 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