Being raised by a single mother had challenges, but I am grateful for everything she does for me. She had two jobs, working at a high school and had her own private practice. To me, at 9 years old, she started to become my hero.
Because she was working two jobs, it was difficult for her to drive me to my various activities, like horseback riding.
We were very lucky when my friend, who told me about the barn in the first place, lived across the street. Whenever she went, I did as well. Sometimes I even had friends’ parents take me to soccer practice.
I always knew my mother worked so hard so I could have a good life, so even when sometimes she wasn’t there, I knew in my heart she wanted to be.
At 9 years old, I was still taking lessons at the barn, and watching my friend ride when she started to lease her very first pony, Mouse. I helped her around the barn, as well, when she needed it.
Every year, in the summer, we always took a trip to New Hampshire for a week on a farm. It was always so much fun, and we could pick chicken eggs and give them to kitchen for them to cook that morning for breakfast. They had different farm animals, like goats, sheep, cows, and horses.
I got to either go on a trail ride and/or have a western horseback riding lesson on one of their horses. It was a lot of fun, and always a blast.
Since every year, we went on the same the week, we had a group of friends’ family who went on the same. We are still friends with a family 15 years later.
On another trip I went on when I was 9 years old, my cousins and we went to New York City and took a horse and buggy ride. My cousin was also a horseback rider, so the driver taught us to steer the horses, as we both sat up top with him.
To this day, at 30 years old, I am still grateful for my mother.