Season of Thanksgiving

Leann here. I hope y'all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  My son-in-law cooked the turkey this year and did a wonderful job.  Our numbers were somewhat reduced due to my mom and sister-in-law weren't feeling well.  But we had a wonderful time.  Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday.  It has not been commercialized.  It is a time for giving thanks.  And what I enjoy the most about turkey day is turkey sandwiches with dressing and cranberries on it.  It is the best.

What is your favorite part of Thanksgiving?

Captain Brenda Kaye

If y'all recall in Beth's book, Redemption Ranch, there was a character, Captain Brenda Kaye.  When she appeared in the book, she wanted to take over.  Every time I started writing on Redemption Ranch, "Kaye" as she wants to be called--not Brenda, kept coming to my mind first.  After several days, I had to talk to the captain and say, "This is not your book, but you can have  your own."  With that promise, Kaye behaved. 

I am now writing Kaye's book.  She's back home and dealing with lots of baggage after being injured  when a insurgent walked into the cafe where she was meeting with several Iraqi women and blew himself up.  She's spent a lot of time in the hospital.  The hero of that book, Caleb Jensen, who is a pick-up rider in the rodeo.  He's facing a few problems of his own.  Now, for Kaye's eagerness to interrupt Beth's book, she's mighty reluctant to talk now.  I'll get it out of her, rest assured.

Since Caleb is a pick-up rider, I needed to do some research and  went to a rodeo in a neighboring town..  All research such be such fun.

Happy Veteran's Day

Mom in her uniform

 Church was opened with a selection of all the military theme songs.  There is nothing more soul stirring than to hear those songs.It calls to the deepest part of our souls.  This country owes a debt of gratitude to those brave men and women who fought.  They gave of themselves and in doing so, were tested in fire.

I find myself in awe.  Both my parents and husband were Army and I'm proud of them.  If you go to your local cemetery and walk through, you'll see head markers of young men who never made it to the age to 20.  The cemetery where my husband's family is buried, there are several grave stones not far from where our family is and they all read the same date in 1941. 

Please take a moment and give thanks to those brave solider/sailors/marines/coast guard that paid the price of freedom.

Dad setting in front of his barracks.

Horse Resuce

This is Dr. Tessa.  When I first met Ethan, he doubted I could do big animal veterinary medicine.  He thought, as most men do, how could a little woman do the job of helping with a breech birth or getting a stick out of a cow's throat.  The man looked on the outside, but he quickly learned that my heart is a big as his and when he saw he deliver that breech foal, I made a believer of him.  Of course, most men are that way.  You have to show them.

I'm okay with that.  I showed him.

Lies will catch up with You

I am Tessa's mom, Joan Grant.  The title of the blog is a little misleading.  I never actively told Tessa a lie, but my silence was a lie.  I let her believe that man she knew as Dad was her biological father.  But when is a good time to tell your 8 year-old the man she knows as Dad isn't her biological dad?

My parents weren't understanding when I got pregnant in high school.  My father's reaction was he didn't want to be shamed by my behavior.  My mother went along with Dad.  It was my grandmother who came in and loved me though the pregnancy.  I thought my parents would come to love Tessa, but they could never unbend from their judgement.

I fell head over hills for a skinny kid who was in his senior  year in college.  He wanted to become a vet.  We dreamed together on how we could make a go of it.  When Vince won is scholarship to Purdue, I knew if he had a wife and baby he wouldn't go on to be a vet.  I couldn't do that to him, so I never told him.  If I could go back and do it all again, I would.  I would trust Vince enough to know he could be married, go to school and become a successful veterinarian.   Too back hindsight is 100%.

Dr. Vince Adams, The Vet

This is my first time to blog, but I guess you could say I got the ball rolling in Fresh-Start Ranch.  I'll back up a bit.  The last time I was kicked by one of the cows at McClure ranch, I wasn't fast enough to avoid the hoof and ended up with a big bruise.  Well, at my age, you move a littler slower and it took close to an hour with an ice pack on my leg to satisfy Lynda and Ken McClure at I was okay. (I think they were right.)

Well, I had to admit, I needed another partner.  A younger vet.  I tried hiring a few, but they didn't want to do big animal practice outside of Albuquerque.  I had a couple of vets substitute for me while I went back home to Kentucky to see my family, but those vets didn't stay.  The second guy had his car packed and notes on the table and when I showed up, he said goodbye and drove away.

 I got desperate and went to my old school, Purdue Veterinary School.  That's were I found Dr. Tessa Grant.  I knew she was a woman and she was only five feet tall, but I needed help and was will to give her a try.

She didn't disappoint.  The lady has a way with horses that can't be taught. And I not only got a partner, but I found my daughter and found a family.

Dr. Tessa's Time

Tessa here.  I guess I'll have to jump in and defend myself.  When Leann was writing my story, she know about my past, and I told her my passion for horses.  There was no other direction for me to go with my career.  When my step-dad (and at the time I didn't know he was) left my mom and me, my horse was my refuge.  When mom had to sell the ranch outside of Lexington, I made a deal with the new owners if I could board my horse there, I'd work for free.  They let me.  I was more cooperative with the writer than a certain cowboy I know.

Of course when I met Ethan, I knew I was going to have problems with him.  He didn't disappoint, but the grief was worth it.