BONNIE BRADY                                                                                                                                   

It's rodeo season here in Houston.  Thought I should share this story.                             

                                                                                                         

Bonnie Brady is a good ole’ Louisiana girl, born and bred.  As a child, she had trees to climb, creeks to explore, secret places to hide under the canopy of pines and most importantly, horses to ride.  Bonnie loved horses; in fact, she was given one as her first birthday present by her grandfather.    She grew up on horses riding as often as possible.   When she couldn't sleep at night, Bonnie would walk out to the pasture and just lie on the back of her favorite horse, staring at the stars, telling secrets to the moon.  Sometimes her mother would find her stretched out on the horse reading under the shade of a tree. 

She was raised by a single mother and knew next to nothing about her father, often wishing he could be around.  She shared this secret dream with the moon and her horse, Goldie, on those nights when she was restless and unable to sleep. 

Bonnie loves everything Louisiana.  In fact, she has a small tattoo of a crawfish in a gators mouth on her left arm and one in the shape of Louisiana on her right – got it one time in New Orleans at Mardi Gras, against her mother’s wishes.

When Bonnie was ten, her mama shared how she used to be a barrel racer and followed rodeo circuits.   She took her to rodeos in the area, especially Mr. Ted Johnson's in Hineston, Louisiana. 

As she grew older Bonnie’s friends would gather at a friend’s farm and ride together in the Grand Entry.  Once she even got to carry the American flag.  By the time Bonnie was fourteen she was barrel racing just like her mama.  It became her passion and, besides, it attracted boys, good old cowboys.  Strong muscular cowboys.  Muscular, bull riding cowboys.   I don't know which she loved most, the bulls or the cowboys riding the bulls, but Bonnie loved that part of the rodeo the best.   

This worried her mama; afraid her daughter was following in her footsteps.

The dream of any cowgirl following the circuit of rodeos is to be the Rodeo Queen.  When Bonnie was seventeen her dream was fulfilled.  You would think she was Dale Evans the way she strutted around on her horse waving to the crowd.   Yet, she was unhappy.  She wished for her daddy to see her.

  She questioned her mama about him.  Bonnie’s mother just said that her father worked offshore before he died.  When Bonnie inquired as to why there weren’t any pictures of him, she gave mysterious answers.  The only information Bonnie ever really knew was that it was a short marriage.  

It wasn’t until she secretly went through her mother’s closet one day, that she disclosed her father’s name and background.  Buried deep in a shoe box was a wedding certificate.  Bonnie discovered his name was Davis Brown from Houston.  Digging deeper in the hidden shoe box she learned that he never worked offshore but that he had been a bull rider following the circuit, never making it big.   She also found his picture.  Tall, dark, and handsome, with coal black hair, blue eyes, and the most wonderful smile she had ever seen, just like those tall, muscular cowboys she was crazy about.  

Bonnie wanted to know more.  She forced her mother to talk about this mysterious Davis Brown.  Her mother explained that she met him at the Houston Rodeo and she, “was smitten by his coal black hair, his muscular torso, and those blue eyes – oh, those blue eyes!”  They married after three dates, and she became pregnant immediately.  He left her, just a month before she gave birth, running off with another cowgirl.  “I divorced him and shut him out of my mind, moving back to Louisiana, with my parents, to raise you, Bonnie.”

In 1996, when she was twenty, Bonnie moved to Texas, hoping to find her daddy.  She was following the circuit as a barrel rider when she met a man that reminded her of the mysterious tall, dark, and handsome Davis Brown.  

Johnny Brady was a professional bull rider from Amarillo, Texas.  He was tall, muscular, and handsome, with mysterious sky-blue eyes.  She admired his strength and strong morals.  Deciding he was a keeper, they dated.  Eventually, Bonnie married him, upsetting her mother. But Johnny wasn’t at all like Davis Brown. 

Johnny and Bonnie now have three children.  When time permits, Bonnie, Johnny, and the kids travel the PBR circuit together.  

One day while watching him practice on their ranch, Bonnie decided to try bull riding herself, against Johnny’s’ better judgement.  This woman was a determined woman.  She became quite good and wanted to do more.  Johnny was impressed, deciding to be her coach.  

These days, she rides bulls in the small rodeos.

Her current goal is to become the first female professional bull rider. 

Bonnie has also added to her tattoos.  She now has a small lone star under the gator and one in the shape of Texas under the Louisiana outline. 

She is one happy Texas cowgirl.

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