Sometimes as we get older, we often think back to the times in our
lives when we were young and carefree and the world stretched
out ahead of us...I never knew just how lucky
I was back then ~ until those sweet memories have started flooding back.
I was born and raised in a little sleepy town in Virginia. My parents
first home was in "town"...a small little place where everyone
knew everyone else and gossip was the common theme. I
can remember tagging along with mama as she would visit her friends
and family to find out all of the latest news...I would patiently entertain
myself while they talked and I would listen to their conversations too...I became a very
reserved & thoughtful child.
As a first born ( with no playmates), I spent more time with grown-ups than with
kids my own age...I really enjoyed listening to tales from my great- grandaddy and grandmother as they spoke of a different time and place and of
relatives from long ago ~ relatives that I would never meet... Listening and learning
has helped to create a love of history in my life...
The past has always been intriguing and the
area that I grew up in was full of history
from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War~
I loved it all!
I have always been an old soul... from the beginning.
Our little town is at the foot of the Blue Ridge Parkway and so was our little house.
My daddy loved music and guitars. He came from a poor family and never
had one until he married my mama...He was able to save up enough money to buy one then.
He had a good ear for music
and he taught himself to play just by listening to songs on the radio. By
the time I came along, he had gotten pretty good at picking and
singing...It was always a comfort throughout my young years
to hear him pull out his guitar and sing Johnny Cash
and Merle Haggard songs.
One day a friend of daddy's came down from the mountain to
see him...He saw a Flatt and Scruggs album on our kitchen
table and offered to trade a little Shetland pony that he had
for the album. I think I might have had something to do with that even though
I didn't know what was going on...The deal was made and I had my first
pony at 4 years old. She was a little Palomino and her name was Sugar . We kept her in the
backyard with our dogs ...I can remember my parents saddling her up and leading me
around until I became comfortable riding her. She was mean, as all ponies are...She would bite me and try to
buck me off and a couple of times she succeeded! Sugar was the beginning of
my love for horses...they hold a special place in my heart and in my history.
I always had a horse from that point on and riding was always a joy...
I guess I inherited the horse gene from my mama...she loved to ride too!
~Thank you for reading this far ~
~T~
