A Means for Support

Everyone has an inborn need to feel like they have someone behind them, pushing them forward and offering encouragement. Without it, many people, especially children, feel like it is just not worth it to try because no one sincerely cares. Unfortunately, there are a lot of children who do grow up feeling this way. I, however, was extremely blessed to have someone standing beside me to help me through all the ups and downs that come with life.

            A young girl, about six years old or so, stood at the end of a long gravel road, next to a fence. On the other side of the fence grazed a small, pinto pony with a sweet, white face. With eyes large and a smile as bright as the sun, the little girl exclaimed, “Mommy, look! The pony likes me!” Her mother smiled with glistening eyes. Finally, the day had come for her daughter to experience horses the way she had when she was a little girl. From that moment on, the little girl had a bond she would share not only with the pony, but her mother as well.

            You see, the mother had grown up with horses and ponies, and wished so much that she could pass that love on to her daughter. But living in the city had made that a challenge. Now, the little girl had her chance to discover what her mother saw in horses.

            The little girl was at her outset of horse camp for the first of many summers to come. Already, the girl had lost herself in the beauty and magnificence of the horses running through the pastures; and this enchantment would sweep the young princess off into an undying passion for the gentle giants.

            Years would follow that brought with them heartache and rough spots; but the little girl’s mother would not let her daughter forget how much she loved the horses. Every year, without fail, the young girl went to horse camp to continue living her dreams as a future cowgirl. She grew to love each horse at the stable, knowing them all by name and describing each horse’s personality to her mother when she came home from her adventures. Her mother, of course, was the driving factor behind her daughter’s dreams coming true. She was the one making sacrifices of her own in order for her daughter to enjoy one of the few things that brought her utterly pure joy in her disjointed life.

            A girl, about fifteen years old, stood at the end of a concrete aisle. The aisle was lined with wooden stalls, and she was looking inside the one on the end at a small figure curled up in the cedar shavings. Her eyes glimmered with overwhelming love and a twinkling smile graced her face with sweet compassion set in her cheeks. “Mommy!” she called. “I think he likes me!” Her mother smiled from the other end of the aisle with tears in her eyes. The day both she and her daughter had dreamed of since the first day of horse camp those ten years ago had finally come. Her daughter had a horse of her very own.

            As the girl looked toward her mother, the realization struck her, that without her mom, none of this ever would have happened. All those years of her mom bringing her to horse camp and helping her study everything she could get her hands on about horses had been the whole reason she even had this new baby horse.

            This realization led to many more in the years following as the girl had to care for her horse. Her mother had devoted everything to her: time, energy, love. Her mother had always been there, not just in the horse things, but in everything. When the girl had chosen to swim competitively, her mother was her number one fan, coming to all the meets and practices; paying for all the equipment and a pool membership; and pushing her to do her best. When the girl had found a natural talent for theater and music, her mother had made it possible for her to perform in school and community shows as well as cheered her on in her competitions. Later, when the girl’s theater involvement expanded into competitive public speaking, her mother stepped up to be her daughter’s speech coach, getting her to nationals three times in high school.

            At the time, the girl did not recognize the impact this had on her life. As the mother and daughter spent time together for all these activities, they began to grow close to one another. They were not longer just mother and daughter; they had become best friends, inseparable and unbreakable. Some of their best time was spent in the car on their way to the next competition or practice. They would talk about everything from school to horses, life’s problems to their relationships with God. One day while in the car, the conversation of which college the girl would go to came up. She had looked at several, but her mom kept pressing one.

            “Why don’t you just look at River Falls?” Her mom asked.

            “Because, they don’t have what I’m looking for.”

            “How do you know if you’ve never looked?”

            “I looked at it a little bit, and it just doesn’t seem right for me.”

            “Fine,” the mom responded, getting slightly exasperated. “You look where you want, but I still think it is a good choice.” And the conversation was over. That night, the girl did look at River Falls; and her mother was right. It was perfect, everything she had been looking for. All this time her mom had been proving that she had her daughter’s best interest in mind, and the girl had doubted her anyway. From then on, the girl knew her mom would always be there. This gave her so much comfort in knowing that even as she stepped out into college the next fall, there would still be someone back home pushing her through and encouraging her to continue chasing her dreams.