Growing up, I was always a daddy's girl, constantly by his side. My father owned a large sheep ranch and he knew a lot of people. Because of this, I knew a lot of people. Cleve is just one of these great ranchers that my father introduced me to. He owns a successful cattle ranch in Plymouth Utah.
I have a very distinct memory of Cleve when I was little. I remember leaning over to my dad and whispering in his ear, "Dad, why is Cleve missing some of his fingers?" My dad then told me, "Well, why don't you ask him?" Embarrassed, I asked Cleve what happened and this was his response.
He said that a long time ago, he was in a sheep ranching accident and several of his fingers were cut off. The doctors told him that he was going to be alright without his fingers but, it is important for him to have a thumb. The problem was, in the accident, his thumb became unusable. So, the doctors decided to re-attach Cleve's middle finger (which had also been cut off during the accident) to his thumb. He would then finish his story and say, "So Charlee, if I give you a thumbs up, be careful what it means because, am I really giving you a thumbs up? Or am I giving you the bird?" He would then laugh at me as I would sit and wonder how many "thumbs ups" he had given me and then he would continue to talk to my dad.
Cleve has a very positive attitude about his missing fingers. His accident may have been a long time ago, but that doesn't mean he doesn't regret what happened. Willie Nelson once said, "Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results." I believe that is how it is with everything. Attitude is everything. If you have a positive attitude, even in the worst situations, you can have a positive outcome. Accidents happen and sometimes you can't prevent the outcome. You just have to learn to have a positive attitude about the entire situation and roll with it.
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