Wednesday, May 7, 2014

The Last Pass: Part 2

This was perhaps one of my most difficult days--almost too difficult for me to describe in words. The wind was bone chilling, the kids were exhausted, and they literally cried all the way up and down the pass. It was hours. It distressed everyone, but there was nothing we could do. They were dressed very warmly so I think not sleeping well and the irritating wind were mostly to blame. I told the horse guy, "We need to get out of here. If we stop, they will only get colder. We need to go no matter how much they cry!" Eventually, it got so difficult that when I saw P.J. coming up over the pass behind me, I burst into tears and walked away, hoping that maybe their dad could fix something that I couldn't. Again, it was not one of my finest mothering moments, but it just broke me to have them absolutely inconsolable, mostly because they were tired and irritated by the wind. I felt that day that my daughter would never forgive me for how impatient I was with her, that she'd hate me forever, but I'm happy to say that she loves to snuggle me still.

Eventually, we reached the point where she just couldn't ride the horse any longer, and that man who had proudly led her horse for 4 weeks, put my little girl on his back, covered her with a blanket, and carried her fast asleep that way for several hours. He was exhausted, but I will be forever grateful for how he made things better when I couldn't. She was much more pleasant that evening after all that napping, too!

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