It was mid evening as Ben retired to the porch of the large ranch house. He poured himself a beer before sitting down, quickly getting lost in his thoughts.

It had been a long and difficult day on the ranch. Sure, most days were difficult. He knew that before he even set out across the wide expanses of the prairie on his journey west. Today, though, seemed especially difficult. Not only were the cattle completely ornery, but it was also the anniversary of losing his third wife Marie. Thoughts of his time spent with her kept creeping into his mind all day making an already challenging task of rounding up cattle even more challenging.

To make the day even more difficult, he returned home to an emotional mess from his sons. While the loss of Marie affected all three sons, Little Joe was impacted the most. Naturally, even after five years, the anniversary of her death still took quite a toll on his youngest. All Ben wanted to do when he got home was have a nice, quiet dinner and relax with his family, but now he had the added duty of having to comfort and reassure his sons. Not an easy task when emotions were running high.

As the evening progressed, his thoughts drifted off to his sons. They were all peacefully asleep now without a care in the world. However, his concerns were far from eased. He couldn't help but think how quickly they are all growing up. In a blink of an eye, they will all be young men. Would they stay on the ranch and continue to work alongside him? Would they eventually get married and have a family? Would they one day decide to pull up roots and move away? Move away. That was a thought he couldn't imagine himself ever thinking. Who would want to leave this wonderful piece of land that they worked so hard to tame and establish? Then again, Ben knew the feeling of being young and wanting to see the world. While Ben knew he had to be prepared for his sons to possibly want to "fly the coop" one day, it was a thought that was tough for his mind to grasp.

Ben knew there was no use in worrying about what the future held for him or his sons right now. Only God knows what lies ahead for them. For now, he was perfectly content to just sit on the porch in the cool night air enjoying a few quiet beers with God.