Friday, October 23, 2009

Ramblings at the end of the day….

It has been another busy day here in stolen horse land. I woke up early, put my robe on and wobbled down the hallway to the computer and turned it on. I then went to the kitchen and flipped on the light and glanced up at the clock expecting it to say 5:30 or 6:00 a.m.

I thought I was awfully sleepy and as I blinked my eyes and studied the clock I knew why! IT WAS 2:30! I flipped off the light and wobbled back down the hall, dropping my robe off as I went. I was really trying hard not to wake myself up too much, hopeful that I would fall back to sleep.

I did doze a little but at 6:00 a.m. I was on the keyboard. I am soooooo tired of this phase of my life. I am sure the women here know what I mean if you have any age on you. I am hot. I am cold. I am hot and cold at the same time. Part of me is sweating and part of me is freezing.

And Sleep? What is that? I only want to sleep until I shut my eyes and then I am awake! Bedtime looks good every night to me around 7 o’clock. I know that if I go to bed at that time that I will surely be awake for the night by 12 o’clock. It is an never ending cycle it seems. How long does this last?

I did many task today but finally I spent a fair amount of time working on auction donations for our upcoming annual auction. I talked with Pat Roberts and she confirmed they had already sent something to us from Monty.

We have lots of used Parelli stuff thanks to Sonya’s donation. Thank you Sonya!

I did contact the Parelli organization today to see if I can get something from Pat and Linda that will be autographed. I usually pick it up personally at an expo but we have not shared any together this year.

Angie, from www.freereinart.com sent in her form today and she is donating a hand painted plate. She is the one that did the beautiful floor art rug with Idaho as a theme two years ago. It was stunning so I am looking forward to the plate!

Each year I get to walk on the rug at Helge and Holly’s (theft victims who had their horses found from a NetPosse flyer) house in Ohio as they are the proud owners of the hand painted rug.

While I am on the subject of this family I would like to introduce you to one of my best parts of this job, meet truly amazing people. In this case they are all in one family. Our paths crossed first in November of 2002. Their horses Midnight and Blackjack were stolen from their barn one night while the entire family was sleeping just a few yards away. After contacting us our IDAHO ALERTS were sent out and their horses were recovered a week later from because of the alert, the work of a volunteer and a flyer.

This one moment in the life of our two families that share an experience that thank goodness most will never know, the theft of our horses as linked us together as friends, I hope forever.

Harold and I stay with them each year on Sunday night after the Ohio Equine Affaire is over. We travel back to NC through KY just so we can stop by their house. It is like going home to family each year when we return to the “H” house in which Helge, Holly, Hannah, Houston and Holt live. From the moment we arrive in their driveway we feel like family. Each person in this family is so very special to us.

Holly makes the best soup and we always look forward to the surprise in the pot when we arrive. One year she had spaghetti and although it was great we secretly were a little disappointed that it wasn’t homemade soup. As we turned in that night in their “tree” bed we even discussed how much we missed her soup. We never told her but if she ever reads this I guess she will know now.

One of the things we love most when we visit, other than the soup of course is the moment when we sit down to eat. Holly will not let us help as the entire family pitches in to put the meal on the table; the soup pot is always in the middle of the round table.

Once we are all seated a blessing is said. I must admit sneaking a peak once during the blessing and what I saw what could have been inspiration for a Norman Rockwell painting. The “H” family with their heads bowed, steam coming from the pot as they listened to the words of the blessing seemed more like a family from the 50’s or 60’s at that moment to me; a family that eats together and takes the time to sit around the table and discuss their day. It brings a smile to my face even now as I visualize the scene once more.

For two meals out of each year I feel like I have watched the children grow up before me. Hannah is now 18 and has lived through her first bad auto accident. We were there the year she started driving! She seemed so small the first year we arrived in 2003. Houston is following his father Helge’s example and is beginning to become a wonderful horse trainer just like his dad. Holt, the youngest who is now four, is all over the place and is very much the ham in the family. Holly, who I believe is the center of the famiy, God bless her, juggles the schedules of her children, her volunteer work with unwed mothers and her many duties at church. Helge, who is from Swedish decent (but doesn’t have blonde hair), always seems a little tired but his smile lights up a room. It is clear that his family looks up to him for strength as well as guidance.

I forgot to mention Grandpa, Helge’s father who has Alzheimer’s disease and stays with Holly several days a week. Between Grandpa and Harold’s mother Nell, who also suffers from the same disease we have much to talk about. If you live with someone who has this disease I hope you are able to find some humor to help you deal with the obvious sadness that envelopes your love one and your family. We often find ourselves rolling with laughter over the antics of these two. It helps us cope.

I know I started out telling you about my day. My intent was to discuss the auction and some of the items we have coming up for you. But, I got sidetracked. I hope you didn’t mind too much.

Now back to the auction….If you have anything around your house that you would like to donate to the auction we need items badly this year. I have been working so hard that I have not been able to get the donations that I have in the past.

We had to cut back on the number of horse expos I attended this year too which is where I picked up many of the donations. Why? Because of the dramatic drop in monetary donations, I think because of the recession.

Thank you Christi for you monthly donation. I wish more would do the same. You help keep us afloat more than you know! And than you Michelle, “T” and Stephen for going booth to booth at the Ohio Equine Affaire and getting so much great stuff!

I have a little more work to do now. Once that is finished ….I’m off!

Goodnight! :-)

3 comments:

Rhonda Hare said...

Nothing like good friends to warm the soul!!

plowgirl said...

Debi,
I love reading your blog. I will be sending a check and making mention of the blog!

NetPosse said...

Nothing like good friends for sure!