Image by Laura Ketteman

Image by Laura Ketteman

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Day 7. First From Reserve.

OK, OK, I did not take this photo today. I've already explained that I'm making up the rules as I go along, and weekends are going to be tough. I figure if I'm still posting a photo every day, it counts... at least, relatively speaking. Don't judge me too harshly. I took this one yesterday, so it's not like I dug into my digital archives from the year 2003. I took a few yesterday, in fact, because I was feeling moved to do so. I didn't want them to go to waste, so I saved them in a file called "reserve."

Now... the story behind the photo... We all know how young ones come up with some interesting ensemble choices for themselves. This was one such example. My youngest came out of his room, all ready for school, in swishy pants and cowboy boots. Maybe this isn't an issue for some. And maybe several of you don't even have the faintest idea why anyone in your household would even possess a pair of cowboy boots. Well, every male in this house owns a pair, I'll have you know. And they wear them proudly.

You see, my husband grew up in a rural, little town of southern Illinois. In this part of the good ol' USA, it is hardly uncommon to see boys/men wearing all sorts of "cowboy, farming, hunting, and/or even mining gear." From cowboy boots, to overalls, to embroidered John Deere emblems on their "best weekend hats," you'll find it all. I grew up as a city girl, myself. Sure, I have plenty of country roots if you trace it back on my dad's side of the family, so I'm not unfamiliar; but my upbringing was city all the way, and that's where I met my husband... smack dab in the midst of city living (he had moved here to go to school). So, you can imagine the first time I saw him... 6 foot, 4 inch frame from the ground up, beginning with worn-in, dirty-brown, western-style boots, and topped of with his black, felt cowboy hat (with a whole lot of jeans and flannel button-down shirt in between). I wasn't quite sure what to think! Needless to say, he didn't exactly fit in. My curiosity soon grew into admiration. This guy didn't care WHERE he was. That didn't change WHO he was, and he couldn't care less what anyone else thought of that fact. I found that confidence endearing about him, and later ridiculously attractive. :) And so the love story began.

Here we are, many years later. That cowboy hat doesn't see the light of day very much anymore, but the boots make an appearance now and then... and the principle remains. The very qualities in my husband that make him the man he is today, are exactly what his boys admire so much! And it's in every boy to want to grow up to be like his daddy. I think, in the minds of my little guys, every time they pull on their cherished cowboy boots, they're taking one step closer to being exactly the kind of man they want to be someday... and I can't imagine any man I'd rather they mold themselves after, than their father.

HOWEVER, I do happen to be their mother, and it's my job to do all that I can to encourage them to wear those boots with a nice pair of lengthy jeans as opposed to swishy sweatpants! :)

1 comment:

  1. aw, how sweet, Laura!! I love the pic and the novel behind it! :-p

    ReplyDelete

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ilLaurastrations Photography began in Spring of 2009.