Well - I don't have a photo to go with the story, but I will never let go of the images in my head. . . There was a roping last weekend at the arena and Wade decided to rope in it one day. We went out to have breakfast (the yummiest breakfast burritos ever - made by the guys in the cook shack) and Mattie was instantly wanting to mount up! She loves every kind of animal imaginable - alive or dead, pretty or ugly - you get the picture.
After she ate, we headed out to find Wade. He was right there close with his horse tied to the arena fence. The horse was big - looking back the horse seems even higher than Wade's head. The horse seemed a little anxious, as all roping horses do. They are trained to be "cowey." I was holding the baby and standing next to my mom. Wade had untied the horse and was holding the reins. Wade set Mattie on top of the horse and her grin was the biggest ever! She loves horses and wanted to go for a ride.
The next several seconds seemed like long minutes and I get teary even typing them. The horse spooked - not just bucked, but went wild. We were telling Mattie to hold on tight as the horse scrambled back and forth - Wade was holding him as tight as he could - if he let go the horse would go on a dead run. He yelled to me to get her and I tossed the baby to my mom and headed towards her. The horse swung around and hit me with his butt, finally throwing Mattie off of the left side towards the fence. It knocked the wind out of her, and she landed withing inches of the fence and a chunk of broken concrete. As the horse scrambled to get away, his hooves seemed so close to her small body. I tried to let her lay and catch her breath, but as soon as she started to get up - I just scooped her into my arms - nothing broken, nothing bruised.
We were all shaken, but I truly don't think any of this has hit me until now. I have just refused to talk about it or have said it was bad, really bad.
I am just sitting here sobbing now as I think of how much our life could have changed in an instant. At first I was glad that we didn't have to spend the day, or weeks at the hospital, but then I realized how quickly our family of five could have returned to a family of four. I just adore our wild and crazy Mattie. She often brings the storm and the rainbows to our life, but she is ours and we cherrish her.
You can bet I have not let a day go by that I do not thank our Heavenly Father for our wonderful family and the love that we have for one another. I know that trials and tribulations will come, but for now, just a reminder of how truly blessed we are.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
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