A Fond Farewell to The Folks In Mills County

                                          

                                                                      

Some of you never knew I was there. But I knew who a lot of you where either through personal meetings, family, friends of family, the news paper, FaceBook or sporting events. I was only a part of your country paradise for four years, moving to Lake Merritt from Burleson, Texas in 2014. Although, this was not my first visit to the Gateway to the Texas Hill Country, you see I was raised in Brownwood, Texas and was fortunate to have kinfolks living in and around the Goldthwaite area. My brothers and I spend a lot of weekends and summer vacation days, romping, stomping, swimming, fishing and hunting with our cousins back in the late 50's , the 60's and 70's.

Although we loved Brownwood, a town with friendly folks, more stores and a beautiful lake of its own, my dad always wanted to have a place out on Lake Merritt but raising five of us boys made it a little tough to come up with the money and then when money wasn't the problem, there just wasn't any property available. Most of the property was handed down from one generation to the next, the families fully cherishing Mother Nature's gift.

Then in the 1970's I went to work for the Santa Fe Railroad and began a family of my own along with new responsibilities as did my cousins. I began to move from one area to another following my career with the railroad and adjusting to the responsibilities of having a family. There was a part of my heart that stayed in Mills County. For forty years I worked my way up and then down the railroad corporate ladder. I retired in 2007 with my wife Amber in Burleson. Our two girls Shanon and Shaye were married and had families of their own. I began to do a little writing to pass the time and to tell the stories of my younger days. My heart still traveled back to Mills county and I, like my father before me, spent countless hours dreaming of owning a piece God's Country.

Time passed, I was fortunate to have magazines show an interest in some of my stories and then to actually publish a couple of books. It occupied my mind but my heart and soul still yearned for the country lake in Mills County. Then, as fate would have it, while in Brownwood giving a book reading/signing my cousin Linda Gaye and her daughter Shelley came by. We had a nice visit and as I always do, I asked how things were going out at Lake Merritt. They painted a fairly bleak picture of a already small lake with a water level twelve feet below normal. Not swayed by the bad news, I asked them to keep me in mind if they heard of anyone becoming disillusioned enough to sell their property.

It was only a week or so when, to my astonishment, I received a message from Shelley stating there was a cabin for sale on Lake Merritt. I immediately called and after several weeks of negotiating, I paid too much money, but the Beck's were finally proud owners of a lake house on Lake Merritt, Mills County, Texas! We spent way too much money, according to the Beck Budget, but we spent nearly three and a  half years making the Lake House a Home. Everything was a new and enjoyable experience. Things I normally regretted or let my wife handle became informative, relaxing and fun. Things like finding a new bank, a gym, places to shop, places to eat, phone service, and electric service were all done easily and comfortably with friendly folks enjoying their work and their town. After calling Elam Miles, a loving relative, too many times asking who does electrical work, who cuts wood, who does your plumbing, etc., Elam told me, "Terry, out here in the country we do most all that stuff our self!" That's when I found out I could still work and enjoy it!

It took me a while but I finally began to relax and enjoy the quiet beauty of the country. I no longer felt the stress every time I came home from buying a loaf of bread as I had back in the Ft Worth area. I soon felt comfortable stopping in the middle of a county road and having a twenty minute conversation with a new or older friend. I learned quickly , something everyone in Mills County already knew, how to meet another car or pickup on a county road that was a foot narrower than the combined width of your vehicles and do it by barely slowing down.

There are so many things that some folks that have been here forever may not notice or take for granite. Things such as more people smile here than don't. You don't have to ask for help if you are seen first. This is home to some of the hardest working folks around. People here know how to have fun not always at someone else's cost. People here know and support their local sports, if you don't believe me try to go shopping in Goldthwaite during football season on Friday afternoon and the game is out of town. Name another town of size where folks know every cafe's cook by first name and when they aren't working.

Some may ask, if it is so great and it was the answer to all your dreams, why are you leaving? First I want to say, there will always be a part of me here in this cherished place. Then, although I know it's not necessary to explain to kind folks such as you, I want you to see yourself being loaded in a helicopter and you look out the window to see your wife standing alone, crying and knowing she is going to have to now drive over an hour to the closest large hospital with cardiac services. Think about this being your third heart attack and the fact that you had lived two miles from your Cardiologist's hospital before moving to Mills County. Then think about a son in law that you love like a son battling cancer for the last thirteen years and the fact you can be back close to him and the rest of your family. I think now is the time for me to give up my selfishness and quit doing selfish things.

It's not like I won't ever be back. I still have family there I love more than ever. I have friends I will miss and surely will come back to see. I have four years of memories and the tremendous emotions associated with them that rival any I have ever experienced. Yes, I will be back, as a matter of fact, if you hear of any place for sale, let me know, I won't need a Home, but a weekend cabin would be nice!

Meanwhile, goodbye good folks of Mills County!  You are always welcome to Burleson! Friends And Family Always....There will always be love!