Lassos, Hinnies, and God: Lessons Kids Learned From Cecil Emery
Great-Uncle Cecil knew many tricks from his earlier days handling cattle.
One summer when we were visiting, he dug out two long pieces of rope. He showed us how to tie a slipknot and make the rope into a lasso. Since he no longer had cattle grazing in the fields, he lassoed a post next to the porch. Soon our son was interested in doing the same. They both swung their ropes around and around until the young boy got the hang of it. Cecil went inside with the rest of the adults, chuckling that he had amused at least one kid who thought like him.
In many ways, Cecil never seemed to grow old. He even remembered songs popular almost 100 years before. Once when our son and daughter sat in chairs nearby, looking bored, Cecil’s face lit up. “Do you know all the words to ‘Daisy’?”
Our daughter grinned, shaking her head no.
“Well,” he began, “It’s about time you learned!”
Several tunes later, Uncle swung into old choruses from camp meetings. Some of those tunes the kids knew from Sunday School so he would encourage them to sing along.
A large Bible sat on the coffee table in the living room. Any questions from the young minds were settled sometimes by flipping through its pages or by looking through any number of other books lying around or filed neatly on his bookshelves. “I love books,” Cecil said. “The last time I counted, I think I had nearly a thousand. That could almost fill a library. Books are my friends and someday, when I have the time, I want to read them all.”
For years he still kept one animal in the pasture, an old hinny named after Ruth from the Old Testament. A hinny is a hybrid between a stallion and a donkey, he explained. Ruth’s father was not just any stallion. He was a racehorse and that was why some days Ruth just wanted to gallop away. He showed us dark markings on her back that formed the shape of a cross. “This reminds us that donkeys had a special place in the Bible,” he said, patting her neck. “You probably remember that one of them carried the Lord Jesus into Jerusalem.”
When the time was right and Ruth was calm, Uncle would slowly harness her up and help each child take a turn riding. Apples fallen off Uncle Cecil’s favorite tree could be given to Ruth as rare treats, but not too many at a time, he said, because they might give her a bellyache.
Uncle also loved to tell stories, mostly true ones but always interesting. Some were about animals and some were about his younger days on his grandparents’ farm. Other stories were about his experiences over the years as a Christian. “One winter I was plowing the road with a set of horses,” he said once. “It was so dark and snowy that I couldn’t see the road anymore. When it was time to go back, the horses knew the way and I just had to trust them—sort of like my life. I don’t always know the way but the Lord does, and I have to trust Him.”
I don’t know, looking back, who gained the most from our visits. Uncle Cecil certainly enjoyed the company and interaction with the younger folk. The kids also helped sometimes with small chores that he could no longer do himself.
The children learned how to interact pleasantly with older people, how to be patient and sit still even when they might have preferred to run outside and play by themselves. They learned how to lasso a post, love old books, and ride a hinny.
But most of all, they heard their great-uncle declaring to them what the psalmist did: “Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come” (Psalm 71:18 NKJV).
Some people might not want to take the time to communicate with the young. Cecil was not one of them. Through sharing his life with us, we saw that it’s OK to have fun, tell good jokes, and talk about God—at any age.
