To me. At 10:21pm on April 1st, 1970 I entered the world at Seattle's Northwest Hospital. My mom is fond of reminding me that I interrupted a Glenn Campbell concert on TV and that I almost didn't wait for the doctor, apparently thinking being born in an elevator to be more fun. I would be the 2nd and final child for my parents, who'd already been "blessed" with a boy almost 3 years prior. I write it like that because I'm the younger sibling and we had the typical relationship of kids, fighting and stuff. In addition to today being my birthday, it is also the 5 year anniversary of my dad's death. He died on March 31st, but the date on his death certificate was April 1st. I've never been fond of my birthdate because of all the practical jokes people play on each other and the teasing I still receive. But I digress...
I was born to love horses. My mom, having lived on a farm and riding the plow horses, gave me the horse lover gene, although it was actually my dad who took me riding most often. It was on one of the family farms in Minnesota, when I was just 4 years old, that I road a real horse for the first time. My mom keeps saying it was just a pony, but I remember it to be a full-sized one. Of course, being only 4 it probably seemed a lot bigger. The ride was short and consisted of my mom's cousin leading the horse around the yard for a few minutes, but it's one of my earliest memories. There are no photos of me from that month spent in Minnesota back in 1974 and only 2 of my brother. There are a couple of ones from the drive there, but those weren't horse-related. Hahaha. That's what it comes down to, isn't it?
The last time I rode a horse was for my 29th birthday. A friend from high school I had re-connected with at our 10 year reunion booked us a 4 hour lunch ride in the Superstition Mountains. My horse was a large Thoroughbred named Larry. The picture you see as my avatar is me on that ride.
Today I am 45.
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