{"id":3375,"date":"2011-09-25T15:04:26","date_gmt":"2011-09-25T19:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=3375"},"modified":"2025-02-27T12:25:11","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T17:25:11","slug":"my-favorite-son","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=3375","title":{"rendered":"My Favorite Son (by karilyn)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary: \u00a0<\/span>In a rare moment of solitude, Ben reflects on the characters of his sons.<\/p>\n

Rated K+ (1,180 words)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0My Favorite Son<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ben settled comfortably into his red leather chair.\u00a0 He had just stoked the fire in the big stone hearth, and his pipe rested nearby next to a snifter of his best brandy.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t often take time just to sit down alone, but this day had presented the perfect opportunity to do so.\u00a0 For the first time, Ben\u2019s three sons were handling the roundup themselves, while Ben stayed home. \u00a0All that remained for him to handle was the ranch.\u00a0 \u201cJust\u201d the ranch, he thought and smiled.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He took a deep breath and allowed himself to feel the pride and satisfaction of a man who had built a ranching empire and could afford to sit back to enjoy it, albeit briefly.\u00a0 The scions of that bonanza were certainly a source of pride as well.\u00a0 He thought about those disparate scions now, each son born of a different mother, and allowed himself the indulgence of reminiscing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Adam, the first, of course.\u00a0 Adam had always been a serious boy, but one who could be counted on no matter what the situation\u2014and still could be.\u00a0 He rarely acted without thinking first. Self-sufficient, a scholar, a cool head.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ben well remembered when Adam encountered James Callan, or \u201csquaw man\u201d as he was known in Sheep Head, a town run and terrorized by McDermott.\u00a0 Though often drunk, Callan was a gifted artist whose work often depicted the plight of the Indian in America.\u00a0 Adam\u2019s sympathy to the hungry natives led him to offer fresh meat to Esther. Callan\u2019s Indian people, and also to encourage James Callan to travel to Washington, D.C. to allow his talent to illustrate the situation to government leaders.\u00a0 The Cartwrights together enabled Adam to force McDermott to a stand-down which shook Sheep Head loose of his hold.\u00a0 That was Adam Cartwright.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That same man, whose life was saved from drowning by Tom Wilson, didn\u2019t hesitate to hunt him down for murder once he ascertained his new friend\u2019s guilt.\u00a0 It pained him greatly, but to Adam, right always won out over wrong.\u00a0 Ben frowned slightly as he furrowed his brow, thinking about the past.\u00a0 Those same principles had spurred Adam to listen to Bob Jolly and dig into his story, ultimately proving that Carl Jolly, Bob\u2019s father, was innocent and had been wrongly hanged on trumped up charges.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Adam wasn\u2019t one to show affection readily, but his heart was good and true.\u00a0 Ruth Halvorson and Regina Darien had captured that heart, but they were exceptional women.\u00a0 Adam had certainly seen more than his fair share of heartache, and had served as a surrogate parent in many ways to his younger brothers.\u00a0 Ben leaned back as his gaze reached across the room.\u00a0 Indeed, Adam was a son to be proud of.\u00a0 A son dark, urbane and chiseled\u2026 Ben just smiled to himself.\u00a0 In many ways, Adam was his favorite.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

His second son, Hoss, was very different from Adam.\u00a0 Hoss had superbly lived up to his name right from the start. \u201cA big, friendly man.\u201d\u00a0 He was open, accepting, generous and forgiving.\u00a0 His strength was legendary in and around Virginia City.\u00a0 If you wanted a job done, and done right, Hoss was the man for the job.\u00a0 He was also the friend and champion of every living thing he encountered, which explained the menagerie that frequently inhabited the Ponderosa.\u00a0 Hoss could be bashful, though, even with his heart as big as the entire sky.\u00a0 Strong and bashful.\u00a0 Ben\u2019s eyes crinkled in a smile as he bit down on his pipe with its aromatic smoke wafting above him, thinking about young Billy Allen. \u00a0Hoss had taken Billy under his wing after his mother\u2019s death, deftly sifting through Billy\u2019s anger until he found the scared little boy underneath.\u00a0 Hoss had needed all his strength to face Billy, too, after he had been forced to kill Billy\u2019s father.\u00a0 It had been one of the hardest things Ben had ever had to watch.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But Hoss was very gracious too, even to a fault.\u00a0 Such was the case when Hoss allowed himself to be Professor Klump\u2019s guinea pig in the demonstration of Klump\u2019s flight invention.\u00a0 Ben shuddered; Hoss was lucky to still be alive after that fiasco.\u00a0 Flying through the air, indeed!\u00a0 Nevertheless, Hoss\u2019 good humor made him a friend to people for miles around.\u00a0 Ben chuckled.\u00a0 Such a son to be proud of!\u00a0 Honestly, if he had to admit it, in many ways, Hoss was his favorite.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lively.\u00a0 That was the word for Joseph, his youngest son.\u00a0 But other words served as well: quick, funny, rash, righteous, principled.\u00a0 They all fit Joe.\u00a0 Little Joe.\u00a0 There wasn\u2019t much little about him anymore.\u00a0 He had grown up, which was what he\u2019d wanted from the very start.\u00a0 He had a temper, Joe did.\u00a0 He got that from his Creole mother, Marie.\u00a0 But although he was quick to anger, he was equally quick to smile and shake hands.\u00a0 He was fast, that just about said it.\u00a0 Fast with a gun, fast with the girls too, people said.\u00a0 An eyebrow elevated on Ben\u2019s forehead at that thought.\u00a0 Still and all, Joe was the one they all watched over, whether he liked it or not.\u00a0 His father and brothers couldn\u2019t help themselves; they had all watched out for him as the youngest member of the family.\u00a0 He kept life interesting, that much was certain.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s fearlessness had led his fellow stage passengers through the desert in a sand storm after the coach had crashed.\u00a0 Not everyone had made it through alive, but Joe\u2019s intrepidity had not failed.\u00a0 He also gave of himself willingly, reuniting a blind girl with her grandfather, and teaching a deaf girl sign language.\u00a0 And, of course, those many affairs of the heart, a fair number tragic. Ben\u2019s head shook back and forth slowly, but his attitude was benevolent.\u00a0 If pressed, he would have to admit that in many ways, Joseph was his favorite.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Three fine sons and a ranch he had built from mud and sticks into the Olympian holdings that the Ponderosa had become.\u00a0 Ben finished off the brandy and leaned back, relishing this respite stolen from duties of running the Ponderosa.\u00a0 He guessed he could almost call himself a tycoon.\u00a0 He snorted at that, and brought himself back to reality.\u00a0 A tycoon, yes, but one who after a quick catnap was headed to his desk to balance the books, and then into town for a dinner meeting with his lawyer about some mining contracts.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amused by that thought, he could feel himself drifting off to sleep, and so deliberately chose to think about those three favorite sons of his.\u00a0 Despite what could be called his many losses over the years, life had been very good to him, and he was a man truly blessed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE END<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Author\u2019s Note<\/strong>:\u00a0 This remembrance is dedicated to Judd Evan, January 31, 1980 – September 17, 2010.\u00a0 You led us a merry chase.\u00a0 In many ways, you were my favorite.\u00a0 Wherever you are, I adore you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

September 2011<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

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

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

Summary: \u00a0In a rare moment of solitude, Ben reflects on the characters of his sons.<\/p>\n

Rated K+ (1,180 words)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":10624,"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],"tags":[15],"class_list":["post-3375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","tag-ben","wpcat-23-id"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":1311,"today_views":4},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/brothers.jpg?fit=296%2C226&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15656,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=15656","url_meta":{"origin":3375,"position":0},"title":"Home Is Never Far Away (by Hart4Ben)","author":"Hart4Ben","date":"July 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0 Ben and Adam's summertime musings following Kenny and Susan Clarke's stay at the Ponderosa. 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