As many of you who follow along here know that I owned a small carriage business. One year, we were asked to come to a nearby town for rides during their town had its Christmas celebration. All the stores stayed open late and there were carolers strolling along the sidewalks, delicious mugs of hot chocolate and muffins were available and the lights.. Oh, those lights!! All sparkling and looking so gorgeous in the misty rain. The whole world seemed to be sparkling for that evening. Lynn and I were having a great time giving rides, and I swear my mare was smiling all the time too. Turns out Lynna LOVES fresh oat muffins! Everyone must have heard about the big white horse that loves muffins, because everyone who came to ride, had a muffin.... Hahaha- I had to ask if I could 'save' them for her barn friends, which worked well. It stopped my mare from getting an upset tummy and also that a one-ton lovely stopped mooching from anyone that walked by... I slipped each one into my basket that I tried to have with us every time.
There were families, friends, couples a whole assortment of people who wanted a ride. We had already been paid by the town so the rides were free. We still got tips though which was wonderful. At first, I tried to tell folks that we had already been paid, but still, I was handed money because, well, my mare & I did such a good job in spreading that "Christmas" joy. It sure wasn't hard because the holiday was and still is my favorite one.
Towards the end of our evening, things had become a little quiet as people were heading home. Lynn was relaxing while still hitched- she would actually doze! Her ears would flop out sideways, and her head would drop almost to the pavement. I knew she was taking a much-needed 'power nap' and I let her.
There was one little guy who had hung around most of the night- standing back away from us, but still there. I noticed him again during that last hour, standing on the outskirts of where we stood. I waved to him and he waved back, smiling. He wasn't all dressed up as the other kids had been; I figured he was living nearby and didn't see a reason to be all dressed up.
It looked like there wouldn't be any more people wanting a ride, so I waved him over. He came walking carefully and told me he knew he had to be quiet around a horse. That his grandpop had told him that. We chatted for a little bit and he kept looking at my carriage all decorated for the season.
" That sure is a beautiful wagon, ma'am" he said. I told him it was a 'carriage' and one could tell because it had seats in it for people to sit in. He nodded at this information.
" Sure is purty....... and that horse! It's so BIG!"
We talked about what breed Lynna was and I explained a little about her harness, and some other stuff. He was so full of questions!
He asked if he could touch Lynn- he looked at her like he'd never ever seen anything so wonderful. I told him- why not do one better?? He looked at me in surprise... ' What is that, ma'am?'
“ Climb up here and sit beside me in 'the box seat'. “
His eyes got so big, I figured he was speechless at hearing this. Once he heard how to make the climb, he clambered up and plopped himself down next to me. Again- ear to ear grins on his face. I told Lynn to 'walk on'- but she was already asking if she could go. I thought for a second he was going to fall off the seat! And those questions continued- how tall is she? What does she weigh? What does she eat? How long can she walk? What's her last name and more. Did she have any children? Ohhhh that little guy was full of them.
He started to tell me about him and once started, there was no stopping. His mom had died when he was small ( he was just 9 yrs old) and his dad was sick, so he lived with his nanny and grandpop. Then his grandpop had died in the Autumn- I thought to myself that this little boy had handled more in his 9 years than many adults had in their whole life.
I told him that when people die- I always thought that they went to heaven and see all of those stars up there? That's how they see us down here on earth. He was dead silent with that. " Really??? My mama and grandpop are up there, looking at me right now??"
" REALLY."
'Yep, that's what I think', I said... He took all of this information in and must have pondered it - he was so quiet.
" ok- so if they can see me, why can't I see them?"
(oh my.)
"Because the stars are so far away, that they won't show up when we look... but they can see us. I talk to my friend all the time when there are stars showing"
Hmmmmm........
I told him when he feels lonely or sad, all he has to do is look out his window and wave at them. They'll see him. That created a smile... and he shyly waved at the sky
" Hi Mama and grandpop. I hope you can see me really well up here in this big Carriage. I have been having the best time tonight and I want to be a carriage man when I grow up"
" I guess that's all , but I love you both and Nanny does too and so does daddy"
I was driving along, teary-eyed over this great little fella. He looked at me and grinned, tears in his eyes also. I handed him the lines and told Lynn to walk on. He held those lines like a little pro- and even turned her on the correct street to come back to where we were supposed to be. I don't think a little face could smile any bigger. Naturally, my mare was perfection that night for my littlest driver ever.
We both got big hugs from him and he was still smiling as he ran off down the street calling
" Merry Merry Christmas to you, lady!!!!"
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