ACCESS ADVENTURE VOLUNTEER

As a young girl growing up in the early 1950’s I remember watching the Lone Ranger and Tom Mix on our little black and white TV, wanting so much to be able to ride horses. My Dad would drive me and my sisters way out of town to a local ranch to fulfill my pony ride dreams. When I was 15 or so, my sisters and I were given a seven-year-old racehorse, Mr. Chan, who became the light of our lives as we spent many happy hours with him. Years later, after I married, we moved to a small place just outside of San Miguel, California to build our own little ranch, and raise horses and cows, like a real frontier family. We were real pioneers, living more than two miles from our nearest neighbors; we had no electricity (just a generator), and no telephone, as this was years before cell phones. I helped build barbwire fences, took care of household chores, birthed calves, and from time to time even fought off wild animals (our poor dog was eaten by a mountain lion). Two years later, I gave birth to my daughter, Libby, who was born with Cerebral Palsy. Because of her special needs and health problems, we had to move to a larger town. I’ve tried to keep in touch with my "nature" side over the years with long drives in the countryside, and by watching every cowboy movie or nature program made. John Wayne is still one of my biggest heroes.

I have volunteered for many adaptive programs over the years, and have always encouraged Libby to participate in mainstream activities whenever possible. I had been an Instructional Aid in the Fairfield-Suisun School District for many years, and loved working with this great group of people. I learned about Access Adventure in 2007, but could not explore the great programs offered until just recently.

Now that my children have left home, I welcome the opportunity to volunteer for a great program like Access Adventure and work with terrific people like Michael Muir and his team. It's great fun to be up-close and personal with horses again! It is such a treat to be with my "old" friends, and to learn to hitch up and drive a team of horses…What a dream come true this program has been for me. I am certain that as this program expands, it will enable the dreams to come true for a great number of others.

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