Harrison's Last Ride!!

Rod and I got back from our 4th of July festivities AND Baby Kate's blessing on Sunday (still can't believe I don't have any pictures!!  Tann & Brand, want to send me some???)  Then we had one day to get packed and ready to leave for Girls Camp with the Stake.
However, there was one VERY important thing that had to be done before anything else:  One last horseback ride with Harrison...HIS request!!  So, that's what we did.
We took off at 7:00 a.m. (THAT was a sacrifice for Harrison, for sure!!) and we headed up to Snow Canyon.

As we easily galloped alongside of each other, I thought back over the past 7 years since Scott (Harrison's dad) died, when Harrison was 13 years old.  I thought about piano lessons, and how I finally had to make a judgment call -- quit teaching him and keep our relationship, or keep teaching him, and lose the boy.  I am sure it felt like "abandonment" to his mother, but I KNEW the piano wasn't the most important thing.  About a year later I had a very strong impression that I should have Harrison help me train Dante, a colt that was nearly 3 years old.  Julie thought it was kind of crazy because Harrison didn't know anything about horses; but when I assured her this was not MY idea, but a prompting I had felt, she was supportive and gave permission.  Harrison took a little more convincing, but finally agreed.  Thus began the training of the boy AND the horse.

On our last ride, Harrison mentioned what it meant to him to train Dante.  It changed his life.  Sure, he still struggled with things, but he has always been able to relate to the horses, and the "therapy" that comes about through our riding.
 







We retrieved Denzel's geocache at Three Ponds, which Harrison had not known about.  As we looked through the cache and read some of the papers our family had placed in there, it became a very emotional experience.




At one point, I asked Harrison if the many tears were for Denzel or, perhaps, for Harrison's father.  When the tears couldn't be shut off for awhile, I think we both understood what this release was really about.


Harrison has experienced some VERY difficult things in his 20 years of life.

Dallin (Harrison's "brother" by consensual  adoption) finally had a small clue of what Harrison had experienced  with the loss of his father, when Denzel (Dallin's oldest brother) died last year.  Definitely not the same, but enough pain to bring understanding.


And so, Harrison and I ended our ride by 10:00 a.m., bonded together even more closely.  I love this boy.  I am so grateful Julie has shared him with me.

We are so proud of this boy, and we're excited for the challenges and adventures he will have over the next two years, as he serves a mission in Sweden!!

Love you tons, Elder Schram!!

Love,
The Mothership