Friends You Could Count On

I grew up on a horse farm in the middle of suburban Sacramento. We had a great little spread with 10 acres, pastures, barns and FABULOUS neighbors. We have remained friends with nearly everyone who lived on Mason Lane. Our next-door neighbors from those happy days were the Goldbergs and their eldest daughter (whom I used to baby-sit!!) has an adorable 3-year-old. Well, little Ginger had a birthday party last weekend and their Grandmother (our old neighbors who still live in the same house from years ago) brought horses to the party for the children to ride.

I have not sat on a horse for over 20 years so here I am atop Ann's old polo pony holding Beth who was not too happy about the situation. Elliott rode his stead like a young cowboy but Beth raised quite a ruckus.

It was a treat to sit astride a horse and for a brief moment, I yearned for the good old days when I would spend hours in the barn washing horses, cleaning tack and riding. There were many stalls to muck and more hard work than I care to recall but the rewards of having horses were many. More importantly, perhaps, the friendships we developed when horses were sick, accidents occurred or emergency floods ripped through the barns taught us how to respect our neighbors and rely on their aide. When our world fell apart two years ago, many of these same folks visited us in the hospital, said prayers for us and kept us distracted with phone calls and cards.

Haven't we been lucky...