Inspiration...

Please say HI to my sister
Thanks...Kellie .
Inspiration comes from many different places
Such as Larry Mahan’s quote, inspired me to write my Mystery Road Intersection, in Octobers issue of Herbs & Things(http://www.coldensherbsandthings.com/ The Write Page) essay about others and my voice of writing, inspiration came through a quote, from an ad for the American Quarter Horse Association, in Hobby Farms Magazine, Sept/Oct 2008 issue.
It inspired me to share about another voice, the voice of family.
The quote read:

Life is a Ride
The important thing about choosing your path in life isn’t about where you are going, but who you bring along.

A picture, of a girl and her horse, behind the quote, touched me with feelings, only someone who’s life has revolved around horses from age two, a horse lover and owner could understand. Typing the words from the quote, a lump forms in my throat.

The horse in the picture is gray, which saddles up my mind for a ride down memory lane. It trails to my horse Mike, a gray half-Arab quarter horse. He was a present for my fifteenth birthday from my parents.

It was love at first sight the day we went to see him and I watched him boss his sibling colts and fillies around in the paddock. When they delivered him, he walked off the trailer as a gangly, six month old colt, with an attitude. I took the lead rope in hand, with my fifteen year old, matching attitude. It was a match made in heaven.

Our relationship spanned 32 years. He was with me through my teenage years and gave me comfort through my first love and the horrible day we broke up. Mike was there the day I married and consoled me during the deaths of my grandmother, uncle, my mother and others close to me. We did horse showing, played polo, drove cart; trail rode, goofed around, and did what family buddies do.

What he gave me was unconditional love. He gave me a place to cry with no judgment and a wonderful journey that lasted until he died.
When he died, our ride like no other was over. It was a change. He and I had been together longer than I had been married or some marriages last. I was sad this important piece of my world was no longer with me but glad we did it together.
Yes, he was ‘just’ a horse, but he was part of my family.

My other family my mom, dad, and sister, were a small family of four, with Irish and Scottish temperaments and triggers to match. Our life together well to say the least, was never boring. But it too, was a match made in heaven.
Our family, after my mothers death became three, then dad passed, making it two, my sister and me. Emotional things happened and one day my sister and I no longer spoke. Now I felt like one, from this family of four.

For close to twenty years, I was doing ok, living my life with out my family. After all, I have my husband and his family, who love me. I have close friends who are as close to family as anyone could have. But something inside of me was missing.

I did not realize, until one day knowing my sister was very ill, and later diagnosed with incurable colon cancer, when I hugged her for dear life, what it was.
In that hug, years faded away. The upset about what ever was gone. The fear to speak our minds, with respect for the other, no longer existed and I became certain, there is no one like a sister.

I had missed my sister over those years, and she me. We missed the fun times we shared, how we think alike, and have the same tastes. We missed our talks, the way we speak in unison; laugh out loud, in the same tone— at the same things.

Then I decided to follow a voice of inspiration and start a new business, Herbs & Things.
The day came I wanted to open the doors, I didn't want fanfare, or big ta—do about it. It wasn’t an opening, just opening the doors. Still my sister and her two daughters, my nieces, came to be with me on my first day.

My sisters response after I told her, she didn’t need to come, was “of course I had to. I have to be here It’s your first day open. It’s what a sister does, support her sister.”

Once they were here, it meant the world to me. We sat in the sun, waited for customers, and enjoyed each other’s company. A priceless time spent with family.
So it is true, it’s not about the path you choose but about who you bring along. Because they’ve come along for my Herbs & Things ride, no matter if it’s right or wrong, it will be one of best rides of a lifetime, like my ride with Mike.
Both a match only heaven could have made up.

Kellie