{"id":4887,"date":"2010-07-01T13:54:22","date_gmt":"2010-07-01T17:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=4887"},"modified":"2026-07-29T13:25:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T17:25:50","slug":"a-fathers-thoughts-about-his-son","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=4887","title":{"rendered":"A Father’s Thoughts About His Son (by pjb)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>A little extra bit for “Hoss and the Leprechauns.”<\/p>\n

Rated:<\/span>\u00a0K \u00a0WC 2000<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 A Father’s Thoughts About His Son<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Don\u2019t misunderstand me, please.\u00a0<\/strong> I\u2019m proud of all my sons, always have been.\u00a0 Time and again, I\u2019ve looked at them and marveled that such a flawed man as myself could have produced boys\u2014well, men\u2014like them.\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen qualities in them that I could only pray came from me.\u00a0 They\u2019re honest, noble, honorable men, and I\u2019m proud to be their father.<\/p>\n

But today . . . today, I saw something in my middle son that went beyond anything I\u2019ve ever seen, in any man, and it humbled me.<\/p>\n

The past few days have been\u2014well, challenging.\u00a0 Poor Hoss, insisting that he\u2019d seen little men in green suits.\u00a0 The rest of us, nodding and rolling our eyes and thinking privately that he must have gotten a bit sun-touched.\u00a0 He brought home the strongbox of gold, and still we doubted.\u00a0 That very night, somebody broke into the house and stole the strongbox right out of the bookcase, and even so, we thought he was imagining things.<\/p>\n

But Hoss . . . bless his heart, he stood firm on what he knew to be true.\u00a0 He knew what he\u2019d seen, and he held fast even when the rest of the town\u2014including his own family\u2014thought he\u2019d imagined it all.<\/p>\n

He was right, of course.\u00a0 The little men existed, just as he\u2019d said.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t leprechauns the way that con man, the so-called Professor McCarthy, claimed; they were just people who happened to be very small and who had used their unusual appearance to earn a living as performers.\u00a0 But they wanted to be ordinary now.\u00a0 They wanted to be regular folks, just like the rest of us.<\/p>\n

Sitting there in the sheriff\u2019s office, looking at those five little men in their green suits, it seemed an impossible dream.\u00a0 How on earth could they hope to survive in a rough-and-tumble place like Virginia City?\u00a0 They were barely the size of schoolboys.\u00a0 Just walking down the street would practically be an invitation to the bullies who run rampant in a town like ours.<\/p>\n

We\u2019d talked about it at home, of course.\u00a0 That night, after we delivered McCarthy to the sheriff, we went back to the house and talked about what would happen to the leprechauns, as we called them.\u00a0 Adam opined that they should go back east to someplace like Boston or New York, where people were more likely to understand those who were different.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you mean?\u00a0 You think we can\u2019t understand \u2018different\u2019 here?\u201d Joe demanded.\u00a0 Never having been east of St. Louis, my youngest son is automatically defensive when his eldest brother suggests that the east\u2014especially the northern part of the east\u2014has any advantage over our part of the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just saying that they might fare better in a real city.\u201d\u00a0 Adam\u2019s voice wasn\u2019t quite patronizing, but it was close enough that I could see Joe\u2019s nostrils flaring.\u00a0 Before I could step in, though, Hoss spoke up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI reckon they can manage just fine in this city,\u201d he announced with a certainty that struck me as optimistic given some of our population.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019re gonna be just fine in Virginia City,\u201d he pronounced as though the topic was closed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd what makes you so sure of that?\u201d\u00a0 The challenge in Adam\u2019s voice brought Joe to his feet, but I planted my hand on my youngest son\u2019s chest before he could pounce.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just know,\u201d Hoss said, unflapped.\u00a0 \u201cSame way I knew them little fellers was real in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou knew that because you saw it,\u201d Adam reminded him.\u00a0 \u201cYou haven\u2019t seen those fellows surviving in Virginia City yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt don\u2019t matter,\u201d Hoss said, crossing his arms.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019re gonna be fine.\u00a0 I know it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe it was the certainty in his brother\u2019s voice, but I felt Joe relax enough that I took my hand off his chest and he stayed put.\u00a0 He was still glaring at Adam, but I\u2019ve been around my boys long enough to know when an immediate threat has passed.\u00a0 So, I announced that I was going to bed and suggested strongly that they all do the same.\u00a0 \u201cI have a feeling tomorrow\u2019s going to be a long day,\u201d I added with an ominous touch.\u00a0 Joe and Adam exchanged looks as though duly warned, and I hid my smile as they headed up to bed and I started to follow.<\/p>\n

But from the foot of the stairs, I saw Hoss rooted in his place on the end of the settee.\u00a0 \u201cYou coming?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a minute.\u201d\u00a0 He sounded distracted, and I went back over to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything all right?\u201d\u00a0 I rested my hand on his shoulder, and he smiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI reckon so,\u201d was all he said.\u00a0 It was far from a guarantee, but he favored me with that wonderful gap-toothed grin that somehow reminds me of his mother, and so I let him be and turned to go upstairs.\u00a0 Just as I reached the landing, his voice stopped me.<\/p>\n

\u201cPa?\u201d<\/p>\n

I turned back again.\u00a0 He was still on the end of the settee, but his face was more serious now.\u00a0 \u201cWhat is it, boy?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

He chuckled at my choice of words.\u00a0\u00a0Boy.<\/em>\u00a0 Yes, that\u2019s how I refer to them all, even now when they\u2019re unquestionably grown.\u00a0 I\u2019ve even referred to Hop Sing that way every now and then.\u00a0 They\u2019re all my boys, and they always will be. \u00a0The Ponderosa was my dream; they\u2019ve given everything to make it a reality, and I will never forget that. \u00a0The responsibility I feel toward them, the gratitude, the protectiveness, the love\u2014when they\u2019re all old and gray, they\u2019ll still be my boys, all of them, and I\u2019ll fight anyone who says otherwise.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat gold,\u201d Hoss said now.\u00a0 \u201cRoy says it\u2019s mine.\u00a0 Why is that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was panned on our land,\u201d I reminded him.\u00a0 \u201cAnd you\u2019re the one of us who found it.\u00a0 So, it\u2019s yours.\u201d<\/p>\n

He nodded as though the explanation made sense.\u00a0 Truth be told, it doesn\u2019t.\u00a0 I understand that that\u2019s what the law says, and I understand why.\u00a0 It\u2019s a way of keeping the lunatics under control, and I don\u2019t disagree with it on that ground.\u00a0 If the gold didn\u2019t belong to whoever owned the land where it was panned, you\u2019d have all those jackasses with their gold pans trespassing on private property, running rampant and ruining good grazing land.\u00a0 As a practical matter, though, it makes no sense at all.\u00a0 Why should gold that originated someplace else be mine simply because somebody was standing on my land when they pulled it out of a stream?\u00a0 I didn\u2019t make the gold, and I didn\u2019t do the work to retrieve it.\u00a0 If the person hadn\u2019t panned it, it would have ended up following my stream to somebody else\u2019s river and eventually out to sea.\u00a0 From a logical standpoint, saying that the gold is mine simply because of where it was pulled of the water seems arbitrary at best.\u00a0 Since I have no better argument to offer, though, I\u2019ll accede to it.<\/p>\n

Hoss didn\u2019t look as though he quite agreed either, but like me, he seemed willing to accept the law\u2019s position in the absence of anything better.\u00a0 He nodded and bade me good night.\u00a0 I headed up to bed, thinking that the matter was resolved.<\/p>\n

But the next day, as we sat in the sheriff\u2019s office, I saw that it wasn\u2019t resolved at all.\u00a0 At least, not the way the law said.\u00a0 I listened as my son announced that \u201cwe\u201d had reached a different decision about what was to happen to the gold.\u00a0 That \u201cwe\u201d had decided it was to be given back to the men who had panned it.<\/p>\n

We<\/em>.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t help smiling at that.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u201d hadn\u2019t decided a thing. \u00a0\u201cWe\u201d hadn\u2019t even talked about it. \u00a0\u201cWe\u201d certainly hadn\u2019t agreed to give away thousands of dollars worth of gold.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u201d hadn\u2019t decided that this time, the law was just plain wrong, and \u201cwe\u201d hadn\u2019t made the choice to use that gold to help five families start new lives.<\/p>\n

That was the decision of one man.\u00a0 One very good man.<\/p>\n

One man\u00a0with heart for others as big as the blue Nevada sky.\u00a0 A generous, loving heart that would always choose what someone else needed over what the law said he was entitled to.<\/p>\n

Over the years, I\u2019ve had dozens upon dozens of opportunities to be proud of my boys.\u00a0 That day, sitting in the sheriff\u2019s office, watching the expressions on the faces of those little men in their green suits and listening to Hoss explain what \u201cwe\u201d had decided, I felt more than just pride glowing in me.\u00a0 I watched as my boy, who had experienced so much ridicule and persecution in his youth, took those five men under his wing and shared with them the wisdom he\u2019d learned the hard way.\u00a0 I stood back as he shepherded those men out onto the sheriff\u2019s front steps and addressed the townsfolk who had gathered, explaining in simple, logical terms why the arrival of these families in Virginia City was a benefit to everybody.\u00a0 Right before my eyes, the folks who had laughed and ridiculed those little men turned around and welcomed them, carrying them on their shoulders like heroes as they headed over to the saloon for a drink together.<\/p>\n

My son did that.\u00a0 My boy.\u00a0 My Hoss.<\/p>\n

So often, a father wonders what he\u2019s taught his children.\u00a0 When they go astray, as they\u2019re bound to do from time to time, it\u2019s easy to think that none of the lessons and examples meant anything at all.\u00a0 I could always see Hoss\u2019s mother in him.\u00a0 Her kindness, her generosity of spirit\u2014it glowed in him.\u00a0 But I wanted to believe that something I\u2019d said, something I\u2019d done, had contributed to that magnificent heart, too.\u00a0 I remembered all those years when he\u2019d come home hurting because of someone\u2019s cruel comment about his size or his intellect, and I\u2019d tried my best to help him to see that there was so much more to him\u2014and to the other person\u2014than just those few words.\u00a0 So often, I\u2019d sent him off to his chores or to bed and wondered whether I\u2019d made any sense at all.\u00a0 But that day, as the crowd headed off to the saloon, my heart knew a deep, rich hope, mingled with awe and humility, that my boy had heard not only what I said, but what I\u2019d meant to say.<\/p>\n

Not that it was all me, of course.\u00a0 Far from it.\u00a0 The ability to see people for who they were, to really hear them, to understand more than what was said\u2014so much of that was just part of him, right from the very beginning.\u00a0 His insights, his perception, his sensitivity to the feelings of others\u2014it was all so very Hoss.\u00a0 But as I saw him standing there, watching his new friends being welcomed by old friends, I felt a stirring deep inside that said that maybe I\u2019d been part of it after all.\u00a0 That somewhere along the line, I\u2019d done something right.<\/p>\n

He turned to me then, just as though he\u2019d heard my thoughts.\u00a0 \u201cFeel like a beer, Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSounds fine, son.\u201d\u00a0 I draped my arm around his shoulders, and for just a moment, our eyes met.\u00a0 I knew that he understood everything, because his eyes got misty just for a second, and his grin grew as wide as Lake Tahoe itself.\u00a0 We walked over to the Golden Lily together, and all I could think was one simple truth.<\/p>\n

When I grow up, I want to be just like Hoss.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Disclaimer:\u00a0All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.<\/p>\n

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

Summary:\u00a0\u00a0A little extra bit for “Hoss and the Leprechauns.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rated:\u00a0K \u00a0WC 2000<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":12615,"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_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,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1017,61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hoss-pa","category-missing-scene","wpcat-1017-id","wpcat-61-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\/2016\/02\/TO-129.jpg?fit=750%2C578&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4887","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\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}