Posts Tagged ‘love’

Our Song…

Posted on: February 14th, 2013 by R.W. Hampton 4 Comments

So yesterday I asked the folks on Facebook if they had a special song with their “sweetheart” and of course to share what it was.

I love to read the answers and why people love a song. A lot of it has to do with timing…   If you fell in love in the 60’s your speical song is more likely to be from Sonny & Cher than from George Strait.  There is also the matter of what you danced to when dating or what made your heart sing when you were married.  Timing is everything.

Our song has a lot to do with timing too.  And, mind you, not all timing is good timing….

You see, Lisa and I had been friends for several years but when the magic happened things moved along pretty quick. We were both single parents doing the second-time around romance long-distance so if truth be told we really came to a point where we couldn’t afford to keep dating and paying all our money to phone bills and airline companies.

Yes, fall was in the air and Lisa was going to meet me and my boys in Fort Worth that October where I was playing Red Steagall’s Cowboy Gathering.  I mustered up all of my confidence as well as what little was left of my pocketbook and headed for the nearest mall with a jewelry store the week before the Gathering.

Lisa flew down to Fort Worth where my trusty side-kick, my brother Jeff, picked her up from the airport and brought her to the Stockyards.  She looked as pretty as ever, so with the ring in my pocket we spent the day with my family enjoying the event,  and me nervously waiting for the right moment to pull her aside and pop the question.

After dinner we all walked back to the big tent where Red and his Bunkhouse Boys were puttin on quite a dance.  “Ahhh, here is the place.” I thought.  We watched the dancers for a while then I turned to my friend JB Allen & his wife and asked if they would keep an eye on the boys for a moment while we danced.  Well, JB knew something was up so of course he wanted to stick around for the spectatin’.

Ammassing all my will power I ushered Lisa onto the dance floor and we swirled around the tent until I finally gathered enough courage to stop in a corner, and on one knee, I asked my very surprised sweetheart what she was doing for the rest of her life.  Without missing a beat she gave the answer that every nervous man hopes to hear, “Following some ol’ cowboy around!”. It was then I slipped the ring on her finger and said “Welcome to Texas!”

And…., then, as the song ended and we were making our way back to JB, Margaret, and the boys, Lisa paused and said the words I will never forget….  “Oh, I want to remember this moment forever Sweetie… What song were they just playing?”

It was at that moment that “our song” was created.  And it just so happened that Red and the Boys, which happened to magically include all the living Texas Playboys that night, were playing an old blues standard… “Misery” sung by none other than the great vocalist Leon Rausch.

Timing….. it is everything.  I can assure you, we laugh about it now, but we will never forget it!

Happy Valentines everyone. From our house to yours, we wish you a wonderful day wherever you are.

From the Heart

Posted on: May 9th, 2012 by Lisa Hampton 2 Comments
My Latest Treasure
 
Hi!  It’s me, Lisa again…  Happy Mother’s Day!
 
I wanted to show you my newest treasure so I grabbed a quick picture of it before we left yesterday.  By the way, I still don’t know what it’s for.
 
              “If you are a parent you will understand this; it doesn’t matter what the gift is, it’s usefulness, beauty or wether you even ever wanted one… if your child picks it out for you and pays for it with their own earnings or makes it themselves, then gives it to you from their heart- it might as well be made of gold.  There is not much better this side of heaven.”
 
R.W. shared this the other day on his Facebook wall and I was so impressed with the comments left by those who took the time to read it and share their own stories.
 
Yes, when it comes to our kids’ gifts, it looks like we are all hoarders. 
 
But really, how can you throw out that necklace made of colored macarooni noodles your son or daughter made you back in pre-school and so proudly presented it to you to wear for church on Mother’s Day?
 
I find my children’s gifts don’t just melt my heart but they attach themselves to my soul.  Yes, there is a special place in my good China cabinet reserved for a mint green and white ceramic teapot that my then 9 year old step-son Colter bought me with his own $5.00 right after I married R.W..  It is so much more than just a teapot. To me it showed that I had been welcomed into his heart. 
 
Last week I recieved the beautiful handmade wooden rolling pin with one side flattened out and slits cut into the base in the picture above.  I have absolutely no idea what to do with it or what the maker intended it for, but it doesn’t matter.  My five-year old picked it out for me when he could have used his “funds” at the AWANA’s store to pick something out for himself.  The fact is, I’m not sure where I will display my new rolling pin, but I know it will be a place of honor.  He was so excited to give it to me and you could see the love in his little face as he hoped his gift would please me, that I will cherish it as if he gave me a little chunk of his very own heart – because that is really what that mysterious rolling pin is.
 
Here’s hoping your Mother’s Day is wonderful and that you aquire new “treasures” to hold dear.
 
What wonderful “gifts” do you cherish regardless of their use or appearance? 

A Texas Springtime Ranch-Country Wedding

Posted on: April 19th, 2012 by R.W. Hampton No Comments

 

Can you believe spring is upon us? It’s been a unique year with unseasonably warm weather across the country, even here at 6,500′ elevation it’s starting to look like spring.  Of course the 8 to 10″ of snow we got last week sure didn’t hurt as it was a heavy wet snow, preceded by a nice rain shower and followed up by another a few days later.  Yes, even we have a little green grass growing, the trees have budded out and you can even find the occasional flower blooming.  All this springtime blooming has taken me down memory lane to this time last year. It was a Texas springtime, ranch-country wedding. There was magic in the air.

Springtime in Texas is like that anyway – what with the Bluebonnets, Indian Paintbrush, Prickly Pear blooms and all. Then add a ranch country wedding to that already potent mix and mister, you’ve got some strong medicine!

We had gathered in Palo Pinto County, TX for the wedding of a long tall cowboy (one Colter Hampton) to his Brazos River rose (Miss Cortni Clower). There, in a leafy glade surrounded by family and friends, in just a matter of a few moments, a miracle of love was witnessed and the world became a better place.

As I looked around me, a lump as big as Dallas grew in my throat. For not only had the boy found his True Love, but older brother Cooper was home safe from the war and in attendance, younger brother Denver was in from college, and littlest brothers Calvin and Ethan were behaving themselves. Big sister Gina, along with her husband Corby (my son-in-law), and their sons Barrett and Gus were able to make a rare getaway from their ranch to be here, too.

Long lost cousin Barbara, from way up in Maryland, made the long trip to reestablish her Texas Hampton roots.

My brother, Jeff, and his soon-to-be bride, LeAnn, were there holding hands like love-struck teens.

I knew that my long time best friend, Don, and his wife, Cindi (who’s like a sister to me), wanted to be there, but I wouldn’t have bet a plugged nickel that they would really make it, ’cause real life often gets in the way when your real life has to do with agriculture. But, by God, they made it, too!

So did Lisa’s brother, Ted, and his wife and both of their boys. All the way down from Central Oregon on their spring break.

And then there were all the Grand-folks! There were Hamptons, Moores, Lysters, Clowers and Rices, not to mention all the rest of Cortni’s side of the family – which was certainly abundant! The hall was full to over-flowing with cousins, aunts, uncles, neices, nephews, friends and even the occasional person that no one seemed to know.

All these smiling faces. All this history. All this love.

Even now, months later I find myself wondering if it may well be that not this side of heaven will we all be together again like this. No, surely not, but where else besides Texas in the springtime could it happen even once – like this?

After the “I dos” and all the pictures were taken, we all gathered in the reception hall to eat, drink and watch the newest Mr. and Mrs. Hampton cut their cake and drink Dr. Pepper toasts.

 

As the couple took to the dance floor, as the children played in the growing shadows, as the Texas sun made its way west, I stood alone trying to memorize every face and every scene of one of life’s few perfect days.

 

And amidst my memories of new love I find another. There I was, taking it all in, afraid to even blink, lest it all go away, my attention was finally stolen by a woman across the room. This lovely creature, although unaware I was watching, was working at the drink table filling cups with iced tea. I was taken not only by her obvious beauty, but by the look of total contentment she wore as she made an art out of this simple task.

Captivated and dumb-struck, I wondered how this could happen. What were the chances of a middle aged man falling in love at his son’s wedding? This kind of foolishness could get a man in big trouble. But no, not that day, because this angelic vision across the crowded room is the mother of my children, my sweetheart, my partner and my wife.

I smiled as I reached down and felt the gold band on my left hand.

Now why should old love born anew surprise me – or anyone, for that matter? After all, it was a Texas springtime ranch-country wedding, and there was magic in the air! 

Do you have a favorite springtime memory?  Is there really such a thing as “love in the air”?

 

Why ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’?

Posted on: November 19th, 2010 by R.W. Hampton 1 Comment

That’s what Lee Williams, the British country music radio host, wanted to know in his thick accent during our interview. “I mean, really ‘AhhDubbleyu’, it’s a lovely recording, but you’re an American cowboy music singer and you are singing an English rock song. We’re talking none other than Freddie Mercury and Queen!”

“Well, I know,” I drawled, and proceeded to give him the story which I’ve told many times since in radio and magazine interviews both in the United Kingdom and here at home.

Ya see, I’ve always liked that old rockabilly style, and especially that song, so it’s been rattling around in the back of my mind for about 40 years now. But it wasn’t until I awoke to the fact that I was a 50 year old Dad with an infant son that the song held real meaning for me. That’s right, and one who refused to let his mother and I sleep for MONTHS on end! Lisa and I were not new to parenting by any stretch of the imagination, but our five previous kids didn’t hold a candle to the challenges our precious Ethan Wayne was presenting.

Ethan Wayne Hampton

We were both at our wits end and living the sleep-deprived blur when I found myself in an LA studio recording the tracks for my latest album, Austin To Boston. I was resting between takes of some other song and started strumming my guitar and singing, “This thing called love, it cries in the cradle all night, it swings and jives; it shakes all over like a jelly fish. I kind of like it. This crazy little thing called love.” Everyone stopped what they were doing and listened until I was finished. It was then Joe and Gary, my producers, jumped on me like a duck on a June bug, “That’s cool, man. Let’s record it!”

For a minute I thought they had gone “Crazy,” but it didn’t take me long to warm up to the idea. After all, I’m a man who likes to sing and record material he can relate to, and man, I could – and still can – relate to that song! And the rest is, as they say, “recorded, mixed and in the can.”

Well, crazy as it may seem, that’s the story. And you know, some of the craziest little things turn out to be the biggest blessings. I love you, Ethan, and although Freddie Mercury wrote it, it will always be our song, because you are your momma’s and my Crazy Little Thing Called Love!

Click here to listen to my version of “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” from my new CD, Austin To Boston.