Some volunteer assignments are such a good fit that you feel like you should be paying for the privilege of being involved. That’s how I’ve felt since I started spending Friday mornings helping with the “Seniors at the Ranch” program sponsored by the Flying Horse Foundation at Flying Horse Ranch north of Colorado Springs.
I first heard about the program from my granddaughter Ellie who works with kids in the Equine Assisted Learning program at the foundation. She knew I had a passion for both horses and seniors so thought the senior program would be a good fit for me, and sure-as-shootin’ she was right!
As a van load of seniors from a senior living facility first arrives at the ranch with their staff assistants, they are quick to exclaim about the beauty of the surroundings. Whether exiting the van under their own power or with the help of a walker or a wheelchair lift, the amazement is the same. Just the drive through the beautiful countryside to arrive at the ranch is a joyful break from their normal routines, but then the real fun begins.
First they make their way to a beautiful, comfortably furnished patio outside the 10,500 square-foot, stunning barn featuring a stagecoach, carriage, and covered wagon. Then the visitors are introduced to two of the permanent residents of Flying Horse Ranch, miniature donkeys Bridgette, 29, and Carlie, 28. These precious creatures are just the right height for sidling up to a seated senior for a scratch on the head or a nuzzle. As the seniors sip on lemonade or coffee, staff member Heather Howell answers all the questions they have about the donkeys and the 1400-acre cattle and horse ranch. It’s especially entertaining when we serve Bridgette and Carlie their mushy snack, as they no longer have teeth to chew anything harder. Many of the senior guests identify with that problem and laugh!
Before meeting our dynamic duo I had no idea that donkeys bear the distinct shape of a cross on their backs. Called the mark of Christ, legend has it that God gave them this marking because it was a donkey that carried Mary into Bethlehem and another that Jesus rode into Jerusalem. So the donkeys provide inspiration for a faith message, too.
What I’ve loved most, however, is hearing the stories brought to seniors’ minds just by being at the ranch, looking out at horses grazing in rolling meadows, and scratching curly-headed donkeys between the ears.
“My sister and I grew up on a ranch in eastern Colorado,” Charlotte shared. “We delivered newspapers on horseback before school every morning, but sometimes when we put our horse back in the corral we set the latch so he could eventually get out. He would show up at our school a while later. The teacher would point out that our horse had gotten out again, and we’d explain that it took both of us to get him home. We never did go back to school the rest of the day!”
One sunny Friday morning a wheelchair-bound senior named Maria chuckled to herself before sharing her story with me. “I lived in northern New Mexico growing up. My cousin and I once climbed on a cow that was sitting on the ground thinking we could ride it into the barn. She was five and I was three. Of course the cow stood up and dumped us onto the ground, but we didn’t have far to fall.”
Would those memories have surfaced without an outing to the ranch? Maybe, maybe not. I just know I was privileged to be there when they did, and I’m every bit as blessed by those donkey days as the seniors who visit.
To schedule a senior group for a visit, please email seniors@flyinghorsefoundation.org.
Of all the places in the Bible that talk about love, the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians is known as the “love passage.” In it, Paul describes love as patient, kind, not envious or boastful, not proud, rude, self-seeking or easily angered. He says love keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Moreover love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres, and never fails (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). Paul was writing to believers in Corinth, but the Word is speaking to us about loving in this way today.
A needlepoint sampler I inherited was stitched by a great aunt in 1933 and reads, “To a friend’s house the road is never long.” The road my husband and I took from Colorado Springs, CO, to Montrose, CO, to see my friend Betty is 230.9 miles long, the estimated time extended by construction delays in the Black Canyon. It felt long that day. So when we pulled into Betty’s driveway and saw her pretty home with the hanging flower basket and manicured yard, I breathed a sigh of relief. When we stepped inside to be greeted by Betty sitting in her favorite recliner, the road no longer seemed long at all.
When I told Betty that we wanted to stop in to see her and gave her the date she said, “OK, I’ll try to hang on.” We’re so glad she did! It was a joy to just sit and visit about her life, learning things I never gleaned from the warm relationship we’ve developed over email and Facebook these many years. I learned she was born and raised in Holland, MI, and that she and her husband Chet visited Germany, lived in Colorado, New Mexico and Oregon, and wintered in Mexico for years before his death from cancer in 1991. Her family now consists of their four grown children, 10 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren. She and her daughter Joanne share the home in Montrose.
Legend’s resident author Lois Johnson Rew and Bible study leader Nancy Parker Brummett invite you to join them at a Book Signing Event introducing their new book releases. Lois will be signing her historical fiction novel, The Carnelian Ring, and Nancy will be signing her devotional guide for older adults, The Hope of Glory, Volume Two. Both authors will have previously published titles available for purchase as well. (Cash or check only please.)
April is National Volunteer Month so I decided it was a good time to honor some volunteers I know.
This time of year there is a lot of emphasis on love in our society, but too often the focus is on romantic love and little thought is given to other types of love. The love of parent and child, of grandparent and grandchild, or of one friend for another are all incredible forces of love worth celebrating. We can show our love to the seniors in our lives by reminding them that love is both timeless and ageless.