The cowboy shakes his head with an easy smile.

“Well, you see, I’ve got two brothers — one’s an Airborne Ranger, the other’s a Navy SEAL. They’re both serving overseas right now. When we left home in Texas, we made a promise: whenever we drank, we’d each have one for the other two. So these aren’t just my beers. They’re ours.”

The bartender nods, understanding.

“That’s a fine tradition,” he says, and leaves him to it.

From then on, the cowboy becomes a regular — always ordering three mugs, always drinking them in turn.

A Sudden Change

One day, he walks in and orders only two.

The room goes quiet.

The regulars exchange uneasy glances.

When he finishes the round, the bartender gently says,

“I don’t mean to intrude, but… I’m sorry for your loss.”

The cowboy looks puzzled for a moment, then breaks into a grin.

“Oh no, everyone’s just fine,” he says. “It’s just that my wife and I joined the Baptist Church, and I had to quit drinking.”

He takes another sip and adds with a wink,

“Hasn’t affected my brothers, though.”