Horsin' Around

We spent the weekend in Thurmond, NC visiting with Patrick's Aunt Elaine who was there visiting her dear friend, Audrey. Audrey and Aunt Elaine have known each other just about 60 years and have the unfortunate tragedy of becoming widows this past fall...within weeks of each other. Audrey told Aunt Elaine to invite us down so we could see her, so we made the 5.5 hour trek to spend the weekend on the farm with them.

We had such a good time catching up with Aunt Elaine, who we haven't seen since our wedding day 5.5 years ago! This is an amazing woman, she has been through so much adversity in her life, yet she still shines like the sun. It's amazing how resilient we humans are - in the face of tragedy we can still perservere and make it through. We still get up every day, brush our teeth, get dressed and keep breathing. She is a true testament to the human spirit.

Besides the awesome candle sale we went to (at the candle factory where I got 100 candles for $60!) the best part of the weekend was my very own, private riding lesson from Audrey. I've been on a horse twice before for trail rides, but the instructors/guides never spent more than 3 minutes explaining how to handle the horse and I would cry tears of complete fear when the horse did anything more than a "mosey". I have always loved horses and knew if I got the chance to learn more about them I would be good with them.

Audrey said I was a "natural" in the saddle and that my posture was that of someone who had been riding all their lives. I rode Raisin around the house several times while I learned how to properly hold the reigns and direct her which way I wanted to go. Each time we got behind the house where Audrey could no longer see, Raisin took it upon herself to go into a trot -- but I didn't panic. I calmly made her stop so we could continue on without incident. I had such an amazing time on that horse, and Audrey has invited us down for more riding lessons whenever we want. This weekend made us decide that our retirement will be planned with horses in mind.

The weekend and the visit were much too short, but it was exciting to be with Aunt Elaine nonetheless. Hopefully, we can get to Kansas City sometime soon so that we can spend some more time with her - and not let 5.5 years pass before we see each other again!