{"id":12952,"date":"2016-05-18T12:01:57","date_gmt":"2016-05-18T16:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=12952"},"modified":"2025-08-01T13:29:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T17:29:13","slug":"we-didnt-choose-by-bluewindfarm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=12952","title":{"rendered":"What We Didn’t Choose (by BluewindFarm)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary<\/strong>: \u00a0Exploring — what makes you who you are?\u00a0 The first sentence was the May 1, 2016 Pinecone prompt.\u00a0 The original submission has been expanded so the story would meet the minimum word requirements for the Library.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rating:\u00a0 K\u00a0 (650 words)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What We Didn’t Choose\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI always believed it was the things you don\u2019t choose that makes you who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Years ago I lost the loves of my life.\u00a0 How different would life be, had Marie lived?\u00a0 Had Inger?\u00a0 Had Elizabeth?<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe I wouldn\u2019t be as successful as I am.\u00a0 Yes, we\u2019re prosperous in our holdings, but more importantly, my legacy is in my sons.\u00a0 If it could have been different and Elizabeth was still here. . . there wouldn\u2019t be a Hoss or even a Little Joe, but Adam would hopefully have had other siblings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is it even worth thinking about what could have been?<\/em>\u00a0 No, but I can\u2019t help myself.<\/span><\/p>\n

Would Elizabeth\u2019s survival have been what it took for Adam to be more settled and content to remain on The Ponderosa?\u00a0 It was our dream, Elizabeth\u2019s and mine, to head west. \u00a0I know Adam would have still spent the formative years of his life traveling in a wagon to find our piece of heaven. \u00a0And with him being such an inquisitive child, I\u2019m sure he would have gone to college.<\/span><\/p>\n

Was our choosing to make our dream a reality what made Adam eventually choose to leave the ranch to travel and explore the world, to seek out new frontiers and people?\u00a0 I knew the Ponderosa couldn\u2019t satisfy him and he\u2019d been unhappy for the longest time.\u00a0 We wished him well, but always kept a light lit for his return.\u00a0 In all his journeys I\u2019m sure he holds his family deep in his heart.<\/span><\/p>\n

Inger was a breath of fresh air and her gentle ways gave me hope to love again.\u00a0 She\u2019d been settled in Illinois, but with our marriage, she shared and joined in our dream. \u00a0And she lovingly took on the role of mother to Adam, a feeling that was mutually reciprocated.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, what of Hoss?\u00a0 Even though he never really knew his mother, I don\u2019t think he\u2019d be any different.\u00a0 He\u2019d still be the gentle, loving, compassionate, big man with a knack for helping those who needed it the most. \u00a0And always the buffer between his two brothers when they’d butt heads, and tempers.<\/span><\/p>\n

His life was family and the land.\u00a0 And all the critters that called the Ponderosa home.\u00a0 He\u2019d fight for what he believed in.\u00a0 Would anger against an injustice.\u00a0 And just as swiftly smile that gap-toothed smile and we\u2019d know everything was alright once again.<\/span><\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s Little Joe.\u00a0 Marie was with us the longest, but still taken\u00a0from us in a tragic accident.\u00a0 My youngest son didn\u2019t choose be raised by his brothers and me.\u00a0 I remember him just out of his toddler years, rebelling against the dresses his mother enjoyed sewing for him to wear.\u00a0 He also screamed bloody murder when I insisted on his hair being cut.\u00a0 That should have set the tone for his teen years and more.\u00a0 From such an early age he was\u00a0a\u00a0 scrapper, wanting to be the same as his brothers, working the ranch side by side.\u00a0 Fighting against being the youngest in the family and feeling he was not taken seriously had some bearing on his trying to grow up before his time.<\/span><\/p>\n

With Adam\u2019s departure, Joe stepped up to the plate, so to speak.\u00a0 Most people would have expected Hoss to take the lead, but he deliberately stepped back.\u00a0 I sensed he knew Joe was meant for the role.\u00a0 Though I never expected any of my sons to be a duplicate of another, Joe filled Adam\u2019s shoes admirably, in his own unique style.\u00a0 He matured, yet he was still Joe; his cackle sounding through the house and across the land. \u00a0He\u2019s not \u2018Little\u2019 Joe any more, hasn\u2019t been for some time.<\/span><\/p>\n

But now . . .\u00a0 The heartache we\u2019re suffering is tearing us apart.\u00a0 We weren\u2019t given a chance to say goodbye, not until it was too late.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t choose this.<\/span><\/p>\n

Standing at Hoss\u2019 grave, I know who we were, but I have to wonder who will we be tomorrow?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

~The End<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

For those who wonder about Jamie, sorry, I just couldn’t bring myself to include him in this story.<\/span><\/p>\n

I chose not to list the series as part of the summary because I didn’t want to give away the ending of the story. \u00a0I hope you’ll forgive me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Author’s Note: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And I’ve Got Mine…<\/em>was the first story written, followed by Momma Liked the Roses<\/em>, and\u00a0What We Didn’t Choose, <\/em>and lastly, Always <\/em>in what has become known as my Remembering Hoss Series<\/strong>.\u00a0 The Series is listed in chronological order.<\/span><\/p>\n

Remembering Hoss Series:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Always<\/a><\/span>
\nAnd I’ve Got Mine… (Until the Pain’s a Cloud of Dust)<\/a><\/span>
\nWhat We Didn’t Choose<\/a><\/span>
\nMomma Liked the Roses<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tags: Ben Cartwright, Grief<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary: \u00a0Exploring — what makes you who you are?\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Rating:\u00a0 K\u00a0 (650 words)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":9733,"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_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23,41,61,8,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","category-hurtcomfort","category-missing-scene","category-short-stories","category-challenges","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-41-id","wpcat-61-id","wpcat-8-id","wpcat-40-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Didnt-pay-to-be-Ben.jpg?fit=467%2C341&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}