At Easter lunch on my dad's side of the family today, one of me cousins told me that her daughter reminds her of me. I was flattered but curious. As a person without children, I'm always pleased that someone sees a likeness of me in their child. It makes me feel connected to the next generation.
"Really? What about her reminds you of me?" I asked.
"She wants a pony so bad, and I remember when you were that age it was all you could talk about."
My heart skipped a beat with worry. She is going to be very disappointed.
"She told me that if Santa couldn't bring a pony this year that she might like a hamster instead," my cousin added.
Thank goodness. Poor little angel, that pony won't ever come. It's sad but true. City people just don't get pet horses that easily. Every Chrismas mroning I'd rush to the window and open the curtains, but there was no Pony. If it was a snowy Christmas then that was an extra good omen that magic could happen, but still no pony.
A girlfriend of mine recently told me that my yapping about horseback riding reminded her of growing up with ponies in upstate New York. She told long stories about her dad saddling her pony and getting to ride the trails around the farm. Oh, jealousy made my heart skip a beat. I would never take away another girl's pony, but most little girls just get dream-horses.
I'm relieved my second cousin will learn to love a hamster, and I see her giving her Christmas hamster the name she gave her imaginary pony. "Windy," perhaps? It will be a peculiar name for a hamster, but she'll love it and groom it nonetheless.
1 comment:
I think Windy was actually the name of my imaginary Appaloosa. Windy also could have been the name of my imaginary wild pony from Chincoteague, but I really think it was the Appaloosa. I rode Windy a lot, she was a great companion for runing wild across everyone's lawns in the neighborhood.
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