My Palomino and a Christmas Miracle

I would always stop on the way to school(4th-6th grade) intentionally stopping at the end of the road, by a fence, where I knew that majestic Palomino lived. I did this every day for several years. He would run to meet me at the fence and my heart lept! I would always love on him, stroke his beautiful face and hug his neck. I talked to him constantly about things in my family that I could never talk about to anyone else, ever. He knew the turmoil, violence, sadness, pain and tears in my family and in my life. He, in turn, would nuzzle me as if he understood! And so it is with animals! He, like an angel, comforted and I knew he loved me. The last year that we lived in Jones Creek, Texas (a rural, lovely area), I prayed for a Palomino, just like him on that Christmas Eve night. Christmas morning, I ran to the bathroom overlooking the backyard - and there was my OWN Palomino. I was so excited that I slipped and fell in the empty bathtub, climbed out and ran to my parents in the front room screaming and crying for joy, "My horse!!! My horse!! I knew it was mine! I can't believe it, Mommy and Daddy!!!! You or Santa gave me the gift I most prayed for!!!" They looked confused and ran to see if there really was a horse there! They were dumbfounded! When the dust settled, we found that it was my dearest friend, the Palomino down the road. He actually jumped his barbed wire fence and ran 3/4 of a mile to stand in MY backyard. I loved him dearly and apparently he could hear my thoughts. I know I will see and recognize him again!! This painting hangs in my living room.

An Apple a Day