On Thursday morning last week I walked into the local store/post office in the middle of a conversation about how fast kids grow up. I interjected that I would be the mother of a 13yr old and a two year old this year.
Like a movie playing in my head I can picture riding home in the back seat of the pickup with her on the way home from the hospital. I remember holding her as she slept swaddled in a blanket thinking she was perfect, and I couldn’t have imagined at that time that I would have felt any more pride in her than I did at that very moment.
I had no idea what I was in for. Four more babies later and every one of them continues to amaze me!
Now that infant that was born on a cold December morning is just months away from turning 13. Saturday evening the husband returned from unloading a load of hay up west where we winter our bulls. He noticed the top wire on the gate was busted. He asked KJ to run horses in in the morning and wanted us to go ride and look and see if any of our bulls were in the neighbors cows.
After lunch my baby jumped on a 4 wheeler and ran the horses in the corral. My sister was here visiting and wanted to ride along with us. It had been probably 18 years since she had been on a horse so we mounted her on the girls’ old black gelding. KJ saddled up her best friend, her palomino mare Soda. (I will have to write a post someday about the relationship between a girl and her horse!) I saddled my little cow horse Carmel, the girls call her mom’s little blonde bomber.
We took off out of the yard at a walk, I was hoping for a leisurely ride through the cows, hoping we didn’t find a renegade bull to put back. Right of the bat, we found one of our 2 yr old bulls snuggled up next to one of the neighbors cows. He jumped up put his head up, and let us know he was going to give us a run for our money. I turned to my sister and said, “Don’t feel like you need to keep up with us. Just follow along, I don’t want you hurt.”
And just like that the race was on! Head up and tail in the wind he head out to the west on a run, I looked to my left to see a little palomino mare and my baby in hot pursuit; she pushed him out of the cows. As we sorted him off the cows he picked up the pace. He tried to duck to the right and my little mare was onto him and was right there ready to head him off, we got him turned and headed due west, I looked ahead if somebody didn’t get ahead of him we were going to miss the cross fence running north and south and the gate we needed to put him back through. Out of the corner of my eye I see her loping up behind him, she sees what I see, she leans forward and gives the palomino some more reign and they kick into a whole other gear. I quickly head for the gate; I can see she’s going to get him turned before the corner. I beat the bull to the gate, as I try to open it up I look up to see this bull hasn’t slowed down at all my daughter is now riding beside him just trying to hold him to the fence and slow him up enough that I can get the gate open. My little Mare has her nose on my shoulder, I’m fairly sure he can’t see a whole lot of day light between us, and no time to get out of his way or get the gate open, I start yelling hoping he will stop or turn back down the fence. My yelling did nothing to slow his progress he was still headed at me. My only thought at that moment was this is REALLY going to hurt. He ducked around us and continued down the fence line at a dead run. I threw open the gate and mounted my horse to see my 12 yr old put a stop on that bull and all I heard was the stretch of the top wire as she didn’t give him anywhere to go but over, guess that was easier than slowing down enough to turn around and use the gate. We met up and she said “Sorry Mom, he broke the fence!” I said, “That’s alright, he’s back were he’s supposed to be.” In that moment, I see a young woman, not my little baby. After the dust had settled, my sister trots up on the old black gelding. She saw it too; my baby isn’t a baby no more!
So yes this winter, I will be the mother of a 13 yr old woman! Wow, how did that happen?
