Big Tex Part 1

Howdy, folks. My name is Jack.

Life’s not the breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away, I always say, but I’ve stood here so long my boots are startin to ache, and it’s hard to breathe under the weight, the magnitude, the honorary fable of my massive hat.

I stand here watching families dream. They change every year, the way babies do, some gettin bigger, some not ever comin back.

I watch that ferris wheel spin: moments go by, weeks, months, years. I watch the people come and go. The fashions ebb and flow. But time grows with my loneliness, and I start to miss being young: I smell food I can’t eat, and I pose for pictures until I almost crack my cheeks.

It hurts less when I remember I’m not supposed to feel new. I am living nostalgia. They try to hide it, dress me up a little different each year, but like I always said, you’ve got to keep the stage world and your real world separated or you’re headed for trouble.

You can lead a heart to love, but you can’t make it fall.

I’m gonna fall this year, just you watch. I can feel it coming.

I’m not a faller, but you don’t have to be a cheater to sing a cheatin song, is what I’m sayin. Y’all know. Feels like I been waiting for this since 1949.

My arm waves, welcoming you again.

Howdy, folks: welcome to Dallas. Welcome to the state fair of Texas.

It’s so good to see y’all all again