I can remember her now, slipping into the side door of St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Asheville, N.C. She put all the money that she had made on turning in empty soda bottles into the metal container, took out the Candle Lighter and slowly walked to the front of the church. There at the Alter she lit her candle and knelt before the Lord and prayed as hard as she knew how for God to get her a horse. This went on for many years. This little girl loved horses more than anything else in the world. The family weren't rich, but her Daddy would take her to Ed's Ranch on Saturdays and lead her around the pastures and trails. This was all they could afford, but this made her very happy for many years. Living in the city, in an apartment there was very little chance of being near horses. During the summer months, as soon as school was out, the family drove in a rented car to St Simon's Island and most of the summer months she, her big Sister and Mother would spend the summer with Aunt Mardie, her Mother's sister. On the way they would go through a small town in South Carolina. This town, Aiken must have had a lot of horses because there was a stop light on the main road that stopped cars for Horses only. The little girl always wanted to be wide awake and looking as they approached this unusual Dtop Light. Of course she was hopeing to see a horse, but seldom did. She always said, "This is where I want to live when I grow up!" Many years later she did move to Aiken and her life with horses began. As soon as she graduated from high school, much to her parents disappointment she got a job at Aiken Prep. School, riding horses, giving riding lessons, (by then she had become a pretty good Horse Woman) cleaning out stalls, grooming and cleaning tack. The job was anything that related to horses. Her parents had wanted her to go to college, for a few years, but No Way. She had taken a few business courses at Asheville Biltmore College during high school, but she did this only to please her Mom and Daddy. Horses were all she could think about and surely God had answered the prayers of that little girl. There were always horses to ride, more than any one person could properly erercise. She met a young man working at the same school. He was an amazing horseman, trainer and rode in all the horse shows from South Carolina to New York. He never lost in horsemanship classes and always had his horses trained to jump well in the Hunter and Jumper Classes. He was very handsome and was always given the best horses to show. Of course how could she not fall in love with such a man. She'd always dreamed of sharing her life with someone just like him. They married and had two little girls and were very happy for many years. Unfortunately life doesn't always turn out like we dreamed it would. God had given her her hearts desire, but life was not so perfect as she had hoped.God has a purpose for each of us in this life and we don't always get what we think is perfect. People are not perfect and this young family began life at too young an age and neither of them knew how to live the life God has for each person. The young Mother finally realized that horses were not all that life was. That part of her life was fulfilled, but God's lessons can be very painful at times, especially when we are convinced we know what is best for us. God's ways are not our ways and this would be a hard lesson for all those involved in this life.