My Life As A Kid

Today, a friend from our horse barn and I were talking about what life was like for us as kids. It brought back tons of wonderful memories.

I started thinking about all the things my parents did for me when I was little, and all the things they still do for me. I feel so lucky to have the family I have. Not everyone is so lucky.

My family didn’t have a lot of money growing up, but what they did have they spent on my sister and I. Sure, there were things we couldn’t get, but if my parents could get it for us, and if they believed it would benefit us they would. Perhaps I sound a little spoiled…but that’s not really the case.

When I think of spoiled I think of unappreciative kids who just want, want, and keep wanting. My sister and I weren’t like that. I didn’t own video games or remote controlled cars and robots, and I sure didn’t own anything that would keep me inside the house all day. Most of my days were spent outside with my horses.

That doesn’t mean we didn’t ask for that kind of stuff, though. We wanted a Nintendo so badly, but my parents were smart enough not to get one for us. The only “techy” thing we owned was a karaoke machine, and that’s because we could have fun with it together as a family.

I had fantastic parents. I can’t stress that enough. That’s not to say we didn’t have rough patches. I think every family does. But for the most part, I lived an awesome childhood.

I spent most of my time outside, we ate dinner together as a family every night, we went to church every Sunday, and we camped all the time! My parents taught me to appreciate everything, including life.

I remember one Christmas I wanted a horse SO badly, but funds were really tight. We went and looked at this one horse that I absolutely fell in love with. Her name was Cotton Ginny. She was a beautiful bay appaloosa, tall and muscular, and I wanted her more than anything else in the world. I begged and begged my parents to get her for me, and they said they would think about it.

I asked about Cotton every single day after I saw her, “Did you call the owner yet? What did they say? Can we pleeeeeaaaaase get her?”

And everyday it was the same response, “We tried calling the owner, but they didn’t answer. We’ll try again tomorrow.”

I could hardly stand it. The waiting was killing me! Then one day I got a different answer.

I asked the same question, but this time my parents told me that they finally got a hold of the owner, but, unfortunately, the owner had already sold Cotton.

I was absolutely devastated. I went to my room and cried and cried. Cotton was all I ever wanted, and now I’d never have her. I felt like she belonged with me, but now she’d be with someone else. It just didn’t seem fair.

Christmas was right around the corner. I finally came out of my room realizing what my parents had taught me: if it’s meant to be, it will be. I started looking for other horses to buy. It just wasn’t the same, though.

Christmas morning my whole family gathered around the beautiful lit-up Christmas tree, and started opening gifts. We always took turns and thanked the gift-giver with a hug. My parents always went overboard even though they really didn’t have the money to do so.

The last gift was for me. My mom told me to go get it from behind the tree. For a short moment I wondered how it ended up behind the tree. I opened that small box, wondering what was in it. We didn’t tear our presents open, we liked to respect each other by opening them with care. I opened the lid slowly and what I saw broke my heart.

It was two pictures of Cotton Ginny, the horse of my dreams. I wondered how mom and dad could do this to me. I was already heartbroken over her being sold to someone else, how could they rub it in by giving me two pictures of the most beautiful horse I’d ever seen?

Then I noticed that my dad was holding her in one of the pictures. As a tear rolled down my cheek, my parents said, “She’s yours!”

I didn’t get it at first. I didn’t just want pictures of Cotton! I wanted Cotton…with all my heart!

Then it hit me! THEY were the people who bought her!! It was a surprise all along! Honestly, I don’t know how they kept it from me, especially while I was in my room crying! But, I didn’t care! She was mine and I couldn’t be happier!

That was absolutely the best Christmas I’ve ever had. Cotton isn’t with me anymore, she went to heaven where I’ll meet up with her again someday, but her memory lives on in my heart. She was with me through all my difficult teenage years, and she was my very best friend. I spent entire days with her. I loved her so much, and I know she loved me, too.

If I was sad, I’d go into her stall and sit in the corner on the floor. Cotton would come place her muzzle on my head and breath slowly. She had a trickle in her breath that always made me feel better. I’ll never forget her. We really were meant to be.

That’s just a little taste of my wonderful childhood, and proof of how very lucky I was.

© Copyright 2019. Jennifer Hovda — All Rights Reserved.