I was never certain how to explain the importance of the state to my three daughters. Now that I have two grandsons—named Mason and Travis, no less—I’ve realized something that I should have known all along. 

My daughter is only two, but I’m already planning to teach her what it means to be a Texan—and a Tejana.

I was thrilled when my daughter began learning a second language at day care. But what was I supposed to do when my three-year-old started engaging in conversations I couldn’t understand?

. . . from teaching my fifteen-year-old daughter about her Texas roots. So when I realized I was failing to accomplish this most sacred of duties, I did what any well-meaning parent would do: loaded her (and her friends, of course) into the car and hit the road.

Meet eight of this year’s valedictorians, the products of schools across Texas, from El Paso’s Silva Health Magnet to Houston’s Westbury High.

On 50,000 acres that they have mostly to themselves (not including their hounds, mules, horses, cattle, chickens, piglets, and parents), Jasper, Trevor, and Tanner Klein live a life almost untouched by the modern world.

How are you doing as a raiser of authentic Texan offspring? Take this handy quiz and find out.

Even after I moved to Los Angeles, there was no question that I’d always be a Texan at heart. But what about my daughter?

Bobby Jackson has taught students in the Aransas County school district about the Plains Indians, the Battle of San Jacinto, and Spindletop since the state celebrated its sesquicentennial. How he does it bears no resemblance to the class I took when I was stuck in middle school.

Sending a Texan off into the world—and hoping he’ll return.

Welcome to the new Texas Monthly.

On tomboys, spiciness, and the end of the UT-A&M rivalry. 

America is chasing the myth of Texas. Fortunately, we aren’t.

The state attorney general on Obamacare, secession, and challenges to Texas sovereignty.

Now that Texas A&M has opened a campus in the Middle East, can it hold on to its traditions? Can the Middle East?

As cancer hospitals in Dallas try to compete with Houston’s M.D. Anderson, the medical technology arms race is heating up. Is that good news for patients?

After years of bad choices and bad luck, Dennis Quaid—older, wiser, and emotionally raw—proves his mettle in a new movie and his first TV series.

Can a posthumous release of Waylon Jennings’s last recordings keep his legacy from disappearing?

First of all, they're not really horny.

The man behind the booth at the Ganado Theater.

September’s must-attend concerts, shows, and festivals.

From rugs to bags to pillows, a little hair never hurt anyone.

From horseback riding to grilling my own ribeye, three days in Bandera brought out my inner Dale Evans.

Cheap, hearty, and eternally beloved.