Memory Lane

 I grew up in a small town just outside of Tampa, Florida.  Well, I was actually born in a super small town in Pennsylvania (Beaver Falls) and moved to Tampa when I was 10.  So, I sorta grew up in two small towns.  One where everyone knew my name and the other where I was anonymous.  

When my Dad got a new job in Florida, we relocated from the only place my parents had lived in their entire lives.  Both my parents were born in Beaver Falls and lived there until we moved.  Leaving Pennsylvania was a big deal for them, but turned out to be wonderful for me.

Our first home was in an apartment in Tampa.  I went from 4 square blocks to an apartment complex with a long meandering pool - this was about the coolest thing I had ever seen. Beaver Falls had one pool - a community pool - that everyone went to.  It was so very different from the one at the apartment complex.  I spent every minute of my first Florida summer in the sun and the pool.  I was so tan and my hair became white blond.  After that first summer, it became apparent that apartment living in a "big" city was not what we were cut out for.  My parents began to search for a more permanent home.  

I had been taking horseback riding lessons since we arrived.  It was really the only place where I had friends or felt somewhat like myself.  My mom would drop me off and pick me up hours later, even on days that I did not have lessons.  I had a great instructor, Pat, who really took me under her wing and made me fall in love with horses.  So, as my parents continued to search for a house, they began to search for ones where I could have a horse.

We settled on a house in Land O' Lakes, a rural area about 30 minutes outside of Tampa.  The neighborhood had a stable as part of its amenities.  I quickly made my way to the stables and discovered a whole new world.  I loved that place! Eventually, it became my second home.  I began to take lessons from another fabulous instructor, Susanna.  She was fantastic and loved all of her "stable girls".  In fact, we are Facebook friends and she still calls us her girls.  I took hours and hours worth of lessons and eventually my parents bought me a horse.  Cherokee was everything an eleven-year-old could want.  He provided me with stability and a permanent friend.  I was the luckiest girl in the world.

At Lake Padgett Stables, I found my tribe.  A group of girls who spent countless hours on horseback, being pre-teens and then teenagers, and forming lifelong memories.  We were a silly bunch who loved nothing more than to run as fast as we could through an orange grove or swim with our horses through the canals. It was definitely an idyllic time. I learned so much with these girls, so much of who I am is because of them.

Eventually, we all sold our horses or at least didn't go to the stables as much.  We all were friends through high school and then slowly drifted apart.  Through the magic of Facebook, we have reconnected.  It is really neat to see them as adults with kids of their own.  For me, we will forever be the stable girls.