Cliff's Day
We laid a friend and neighbor to rest last week. While funerals are not pleasant this one was fitting. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back with some memories.
Last week, a friend, neighbor and a legend was given our earthly farewell as his family allowed us to be part of Cliff's day. The preacher said Cliff lived his life true to himself and the freedom granted him. And live he did for 97 years. Some may have frowned on his lifestyle, but some will frown on all of us at one time or another. Others, I'm sure were just a bit jealous of the free abandon and fun he put into the years he was here. Cliff's ability to ride horses as wild and free as he was, his long rides, chariot racing, expertise with machinery and his toughness were stories we were raised on. Cliff's day was absolutely fitting for a cowboy, horse rancher, and wheat farmer. There were six strong men to carry his casket and at his request six ladies to make sure it was done right. The community cemetery with its view of wheat fields and pastures for range cattle isn't green with a manicured lawn, it's perfect with sagebrush, bunchgrass and native flowers. The family horses run in a pasture across a barbwire fence and as the service started those horses came by one by one, paused with ears up and then grazed on. To me that was the service. Cliff you left good, strong sons and a daughter to carry on so rest easy, they won't, and we won't let your stories and feats go untold.
