Refuge Farms (www.refugefarms.org)

To tell you that the past 2 weeks have been "normal" on THE FARM is true, whatever that would be. To be more specific, it would mean volunteers coming and going, horse cares of all types and energies, weather from 80 degrees to 32 degrees, and the never-ending work lists.

Oh, but do not for a moment think there is a shred of disillusionment! You see, last Saturday something ever so small happened which, once again, refreshed me and reaffirmed that yes, we do make a difference in people's lives.....

It was New Volunteer Saturday. What's that? Well, we ask those who express interest in volunteering to come and spend a Saturday with us and "try us on for size". Never do we want to put someone in a position of joining our mission and then finding out that we really aren't the personality or tenor that they might have been looking for.

So we pick a Saturday when we are not open to the public and do the normal thing - we greet each other, work on To Do Lists until lunch time, eat lunch and laugh together, and then close the afternoon by spending quality time with selected horse(s) doing whatever feels good. That means brushing, walking, picking burrs, maybe just standing close and getting that horse smell in your hair.

After that "normal" Saturday, we then leave it to the New Volunteer to decide if they would like to return. We don't follow-up or call or even email. We leave it totally in their hands to come back to us. No pressure - no matter how much we want them to join us!

Well anyhow, it was a New Volunteer Saturday and we were broken up in to about 3 groups - one group was working on stock tanks, another group was picking already eaten grass (manure), and I was with a small group working on the annual cleaning of the horse trailer.

We had the huge floor mats out and had just begun power washing the walls and floor down, when I heard tires on the gravel driveway. I lifted my head and there it was - Mechanical Mary's car was coming in the yard.

That was odd. Mechanical Mary was swamped with 2 children in high school, a new job, church obligations and an ill father-in-law. Funny she should just drop in during a Saturday...

We could always count on Mechanical Mary to be there for the events - she's a rock when we need her - but her "off" time spent at THE FARM lately had been limited due to her busy, busy life and so it struck me as unusual that she would just be pulling in unannounced....

"Mechanical Mary is here?" I said to Kathy, in a question kind of a way. Kathy came out of the trailer - power wash wand still in hand - and said "She's here?"

Mary stopped her vehicle and I could see that both of her children were with her. Out came the 3 of them - Mechanical Mary, Greta, and Andrew. I felt something in the air immediately - something that made me hold my breath.

"Mary!" I screamed and ran up to give the traditional Refuge Farms hug-of-a-welcome. Trying not to be too obvious, I blurted out, "Why are you here?" (Guess I can learn a bit about subtly???)

"Well", Mechanical Mary replied, "we were driving by the exit on the freeway and I said to the kids, 'Should we stop by THE FARM for some hugs?' They said yeah, and so here we are. We came for hugs."

Still sensing something was amiss, still feeling that uneasy feeling in my gut, I queried, "Heading east to visit grandpa?"

"No", Mechanical Mary replied, "we're going to bury him."

Oh my. Another loss for this family. It seemed only a short time ago that Grandma had passed. We talked about that very fact. Greta told me that Grandpa had, in fact, passed only one single day short of the year's anniversary of Grandma's passing. He had missed her so.

We spent time talking about his life and his military service. Greta had a button on which was a picture of her Grandpa Dale when he was in the military during the Big War .... handsome. Andrew is the spitting image of his Grandpa, by the way!

We talked for a bit and found out schedules and marveled over the miracle of the kids all being able to spend time with Grandpa within 24 hours of his passing - a passing, by the way, which came without notice. Isn't it sometimes just a marvel how pieces will fit together for the big picture?

Anyway, it was time for them to get back on the road and so Kathy and I gave a full round of hugs to all 3 of them....even Andrew. And then we talked a bit more and then another round of hugs.

While we hugged that last time, I asked Mechanical Mary if there was anything we could do for her or her family. She said "No. I got what I came for - hugs."

It was quite a while after they were out of sight that I was still standing in that driveway - standing in the same spot that Andy Durco had left me when he handed me the lead rope to Charity Case and said "Sandy, take this horse and make a difference in somebody's life." A calmness came about me. Mary had come for hugs and left behind affirmation.

You see, one of the things we do at THE FARM is we hug hello and we hug good-bye. And they are not "Hollywood hugs". We hug! Sometimes they are quicker than others, but they are just what we do. We care and we are not shy about showing you that we care for you.

Sometimes the hugs are quick, yes, but sometimes we hang on....we hang on to comfort you, to listen to your whisper of fear or worry, or to support you quietly. But always we hug. And Mechanical Mary had proven that what it is we are trying to do is working....in oh so small of a corner of this vast and overwhelming world! We slow things down just a bit to take the time to hug.

Hug someone and enjoy the journey of each and evey day!
Sandy