I had a stick horse which I galloped up and down the hallway all day. The noise of those boots clomping in a horse-like cadence must have been maddening but no one ever stopped me or told me to quiet down.
I’m not sure where this cowgirl obsession came from. I wore the outfit so much that the fake leather fringe was stubble. Normally I was quiet, a reader, used to playing by myself. Something about that cowgirl suit let me be as close to rambunctious and wild as I was able to get. When I turned six years old and went to school I got over my cowgirl dreams.
Then I saw a necklace at a gift shop a year ago, just before my job was eliminated. It was a silver chain with a pendant which was a tiny frame for a picture, like a necklace with a saint or a Madonna on it. This one had a drawing of a girl in Western clothes from the ‘30s or ‘40s, with an inscription, “Our Lady of the Inner Cowgirl.”
I’ve had that necklace on my mind for a year now. I feel a need for my inner cowgirl. I want to get back that feeling of being brave, bold and invincible.
In her exhibit at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Dale Evans is quoted as saying:
“‘Cowgirl’ is an attitude really. A pioneer spirit, a special American brand of courage. The cowgirl faces life head-on, lives by her own lights, and makes no excuses. Cowgirls take stands; they speak up. They defend things they hold dear.”
Right now I feel tired and sore. But it’s not too late. Maybe I can still put on my cowgirl outfit, saddle up and ride to my own rescue.
Tags: memoir, creative writing, cowgirl
writinghersense 
I love your memory of dressing up as a cowgirl. My mother-in-law made my daughter, Rachel, a mermaid costume when Rachel was about four years old. She wore it every day until it just about disintegrated. She definately had an “inner mermaid” and drew countless pictures of mermaids and sea creatures. Although she is now 24, I can sometimes still glimpse her inner mermaid!