Blogging My Autobiography - Chapter 24

Sweets!

My pet name for my daughter is Sweets or Sweetie, because she is. She has a fair amount of sass as well but it’s like salty pretzels covered in white chocolate, you get a little of both and it’s wonderful. She was born on a Saturday about 30 minutes after we got to the hospital. It was very fast and she came out screaming like a banshee. No problem getting her to breathe at all, she was ready to go.

Now some might say that Catherine’s piercing scream was a bad thing, not so! As a baby, she was my church pal. If I didn’t like the speaker or was falling asleep, a little pinch (very little) and she would start to wail so hard that people would look at us like we were killing her. I would carry her out into the foyer where she calmed right down and we could play together for a while. It was great. As she got older, the scream became a game. I would ask her to scream and she would, loud enough to peel paint and sharp enough to shatter glass. It was awe inspiring! It was one of many games to play. Catherine is great fun to joke and hang out with. She was always inventing games for the kids in the neighborhood. The only criteria was that she was a horse of some type in the game. I do remember looking out the window of our house in Colorado and seeing her prancing along pulling a wagon with 5 or 6 kids either running alongside or in the wagon, Catherine whinnying like a horse. It was so cute.

Horses are Catherine’s great passion. On her birthday one year, we decided that we would have a horse party where everyone would get a chance to ride on a horse. Catherine was ecstatic of course and we rode off together, sort of. My horse would not move very far and just stood there until the wrangler came along and gave him a couple of real hard whacks. It took a bit, but we eventually moved out and had a nice ride. Catherine had a natural seat, she knew what to do around the horses and how to sit them, always looked like she was totally connected to the horse.

While we were riding the horse, Debi and her friend Debbie, were left leading the other horses around with the kids at the party on them. At least that’s what we thought. The horses had other ideas. Debbie was videotaping Debi trying to lead the horse and the horse was having nothing of it. It would pull her around like she wasn’t there. The wrangler told her to grab the bridle close and lean into the horse, which she dutifully did. No luck. I have a picture of her leaning into the horse as hard as she could, shoes skidding in the dirt while the horse pushed her back to the corral. Debbie was laughing so hard she could not keep the camera steady. It was truly funny!

After that, Catherine desperately wanted riding lessons. We could not afford it, but when she was older, she got a job mucking stalls at the local horse club in exchange for riding lessons. She would go 5 days a week and clean out the soiled straw in the stalls, wheelbarrow it away and fill the stalls with fresh hay. This is a nasty, dusty dirty job, but she did it. Her passion drove her to it and she was not afraid to sacrifice for her dreams. She did learn to ride English style and even learned jumping. There was nothing like watching her ride, long hair blowing in the wind with legs long enough to almost reach the ground from the horse’s back tucked up in a posting position totally focused on making the jump. I loved watching it.

Catherine was not just a one trick pony though. She is extremely smart and has a very quick mind. She can read and grasp things at an amazing rate and is a first class writer. Just read her blog and see. She graduated from college with honors and was Phi Beta Kappa. Besides that she is beautiful as you can see. She was active in the Girl Scouts with more badges than I ever got and even taught horseback riding at the Girl Scout camp, living in the mountains for an entire summer working hard, bucking hay (stacking 55 pound hay bales) for hours at a time, cleaning stalls, taking care of tack and living the life of a cowgirl. In this we are very much alike. We love the outdoors, working in the mountains, fishing and taking pictures. She is my adventure buddy and whenever she comes to visit, we make a pilgrimage to the mountains to renew that bond. We now include her daughter and twin boys which is a great deal of fun. I treasure every second of those times.

As a daughter she was and is a jewel. Girls always have their father’s heart. I certainly gave mine willingly but that was easy to do. She always laughs at my jokes and often is the only one who will. She loved all the little games we played like hand monsters and bucket ‘o dip (or whatever else comes in a bucket at Costco). I could also say that we played Mommy, There’s a Bug in Your Hair, but that wouldn’t be nice. We only played it a few times. She still calls me to talk cameras and fishing or whatever else is on her mind. She has a strong spiritual center and is as giving and sweet as her mother. That is the highest compliment I can give.

Love ya Sweets! You are the best!