My RA Ch. 02

Mari screamed," It's baby Joshua, Joy had her baby!" Mari raced out and tied an "It's a Boy" balloon to the mailbox by the road. Soon the church bells were tolling, everyone raced to their computer.

Back home, all the kids were in the club watching the video. It was stopped many times, the kids marveled at the tiny toes and fingers.

Sarah, April, Molly, and Zoe joined the celebration in the bunkhouse. Cow folk sure knew how to throw a shindig. It was the best day of Molly's life. The South Hill gang hit the party stores, soon all the "It's a boy" signs and balloons were sold out. You could not walk a block without seeing a balloon or a sign. Miss Joy was having a hard time adjusting to being a Mom. It was much harder than she expected. She could not believe she had a little life in her hands.

Jacob just had it too easy with sermons. This week was a summary of Joshua. What a great leader he was, and how he led the tribe Israel across the Jordan to the land that God gave to them.

Most of the kids were spending a lot of time at the ranch. Many had made commitments to work there. However, there was a little boy and girl who did not make those commitments. "Mommy and Daddy, we want to be responsible to take care of Buddy. Miss Joy is spending all day with the baby, and she is so tired.

"We will feed him and take him for walks. We want to take him to the nursing home every day, in the morning and afternoon (after church on Sunday). They would love to see more of him. In the evening we can bring him back to Miss Joy when she can relax more. We will give him baths, so he looks good for the church. Could you please, think about it and ask Miss Joy and Mr. David?"

The parents were shocked. It was true that most of the children said they wanted to be responsible for things at the ranch or in town, they had to fulfill those promises. Joy was indeed tired. Their children did help take care of Buddy for some time.

They knew that their children would do it. To be responsible, you can't have people reminding you to do things. They called Miss Joy," Miss Joy, we have two children who want to take on a big responsibility and we think they will do it. They want to take care of Buddy. They will feed him, take him for walks, take him to church and they want to go to the nursing home every day. They know you are so tired, being a new mommy."

Joy said," If you think they can do it, I would be thrilled. He has been neglected lately, not enough playtime." When the parents told them what Miss Joy said they gave each other a High five. We will ask Miss Joy what jobs need to be done and when so you can take better care of Buddy. All the other children will be jealous, but they did not ask to be responsible for taking care of Buddy."

The next day the children could not wait to get to Miss Joy's house. "Here children, I have written all the jobs down and when you should do them. I put a trowel and some bags in this bag so you can clean up his poop."

"Oh! Yuck."

"Children, to be responsible for something means doing things you may not like. Buddy is my forever friend. He is very special to me. Will you treat Buddy right, doing jobs you do not want to do? Should we find other children that will take care of Buddy?"

The children were horrified at the very thought of someone else taking care of 'Buddy.' It was not an option. "We promise Miss Joy, we love Buddy and would never harm him."

"OK children, take Buddy outside and play with him."

"What do you think David?"

"I think they love Buddy and will do all the jobs they need to do. They just got caught off guard with cleaning poop. I think I would also. "

It got the senior's attention when Buddy and the children walked in; they had not seen Buddy in some time, and they missed him. When the children walked into the nursing home they announced," We are going to be responsible for Buddy, and we will be here often. We know you love Buddy also."

The nurses watched to see who Buddy visited. Buddy trotted over to a man in a wheelchair sitting in the corner of the room. The man never had any visitors, so his days were long. Buddy felt it was extremely important to visit the man. During the first day, he spent three visits, each thirty minutes long.

After lunch, the children asked where they could take Buddy for his walks. They were told there was a nice path outback. The day was sunny, pleasant, and everyone had a nice time on the tree-lined jogging trail.

Both children had grilled cheese sandwiches and milk for lunch. They were having a good time at the nursing home. They were not sure about going to the nursing home so often. They were learning a lot of lessons from the seniors. Even if it was just Go Fish, Old maid or just working on a puzzle or just talking to the seniors. The main ice breakers were their dolly or bear.

It was almost Thanksgiving, so decorations were brought out. The children helped out around the main desk area, as it was their height. They also involved the seniors in making decorations like what they would make in school. The seniors had not made these decorations for many years, most had fond memories of when they did it as children. Many were reluctant to participate, but the children were so excited everyone eventually joined in. It was the first time in a long time the seniors wanted to do something like this.

Molly and Miss Joy had the job of doing invitations. It will be held at the ranch as it had a greater seating area. The Cowboys found a way to rearrange the furniture to add an extra table. This allowed fifteen more people to come. Molly was told she could invite three friends. Molly's friends were excited about coming for dinner.

Molly and Joy thought about the people who had no place to go and the shut-ins that Jacob knew about first. Plans were being made to accommodate everyone. This was Thanksgiving, being alone was not an option. Most of the people at the ranch had no family, so they made a family.

Mei was sad because her parents could not afford to make the trip. Joy rounded up the children and told them Miss Mei's Mommy and Daddy could not come and asked them if they could play with her before dinner, after all, they helped her before. They played Tag then raked up a huge pile of leaves and they all had fun jumping in them time after time.

The two that went to the nursing home asked Miss Joy if they can do something special for Buddy. Mommy was not sure if he could eat human food. Miss Joy never thought about it before. To play it safe she said he could have a few more treats. Usually, the cafeteria staff would just serve their dinners in their rooms. The children changed everything; everyone was more social. The nursing home obtained several long tables and aligned them in the lobby. Menus were made. Several kinds of food were made so people did not go off their diet.

Seconds were allowed. It was a big treat, a full spread of old favorites. When dessert came, the little girl got pumpkin pie and the boy got apple pie, each asked for the slices to be cut in half as well as the vanilla and chocolate ice cream. This way Mommy will not get mad at them. Miss Joy gave them a box of treats; Buddy was pampered with extra treats and extra pets and scratches.

One of the nurses called Daddy to deliver Buddy to Miss Joy, but they knew she was at the ranch so they can see the animals again. At the ranch, David, Anne and Faith oversaw the kitchen, each had different courses. Faith and Anne surprised everyone by making five pies from scratch, two pumpkins, and three apples. They split up working on the sides. David told Sarah how to thaw the turkey and would call when to put it in the oven, two birds were needed for dinner.

The cowboys went and got all of those who did not have a way to get there. Jacob thought it was a great idea to have all the shut-ins and lonely people invited. He gave out his number and Noel's number and made it clear they were to call any time day or night numbers. For many, it was the first time in years they celebrated a holiday with others.

Mounds and mounds of food filed plates. The birds were perfectly done even if they were done in two ovens. As usual, David made sure the meal was healthy. Sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes with garlic and onions for the kids. Turkey with gravy, green beans, cornbread, apple cider, which Mei loved, Jell-O salad just to mention a few. It was a rainbow of color.

The two little ones got there just in time for dessert, they were allowed a half a slice of one of the pies. Buddy trotted over to one of the shut-ins and sat down. Miss Joy said," My dog is a pet therapist, he is not looking for food or petting. He has been trained to tie into people's emotions. He normally goes to the most hurting first. Let one of us know if you want to tell someone about it."

"Well my husband died two years ago and my daughters live too far away to visit. With my failing health, it is not safe for me to go out. I could only come tonight because the cowboys found away. I wish I could get out more."

Jacob said," Many of the people at this table have lost loved ones, some have lost all their loved ones. Others do not have family close by. What we believe, is that for some we just must have good friends to make a new family.

"We even put in a six-horse hitching post for those who ride to church. Molly's pony is Spirit, she is pure white. She loves to ride and on her teaching test, she got an honors ribbon. Molly lives here at the ranch to learn a lot of things God wants to teach her; she is up at sunrise so it is impractical to live in town."

Molly said, "Miss Sarah always gives me a list of things to do for the day, but there are always more important jobs that I need to do plus schoolwork; I do not always finish my list. I wish I could learn to play the guitar, but I am so tired by supper time I can hardly keep my eyes open. I go straight to bed.

I love seeing all my friends at church, lots of them do different things here. In springtime, the garden team will be busy here."

The next day, Sarah got a call," Miss Sarah, my horses could sure use some exercise. Could Molly and Spirit as well as the other two girls come over to exercise them? I am next door in the new stable, come over yourself to see the surprise."

Molly was due for a break, so they all walked over, Molly had Spirit. The owner was hidden so the girls could not see him, but he could see them. The cowhand said, "I am so busy some of these horses need exercising. When you come back can you help me put these name plaques on?" The girls squealed as they read the plaques, one said Courage and the other Peaceful; the cowhand just pointed to the corner stalls. They ran to their horses. By now, the owner came out of hiding. Soon all three girls were off on a gallop loving the crisp fall day.

Sarah said," You sold your farm just so the kids could have the horses here?"

"We bought each other's farms, I needed to downsize anyway. All the jobs were secure, just needed to find out where people wanted to work. Bill has been a friend forever, and he lived right next door. He got a bigger place now, so he can make a better profit."

It was the talk of the town when the children got back to the club. The girls soon figured out they needed to be responsible for their horses; the family made arrangements for most of the essentials. The girls helped Molly out after they took care of their horses. Molly always had good advice and was fun to be with.

As the temperature dropped, most of the equipment was put away for winter, the rabbit hutch was moved to a more sheltered place. It was almost time to go into long-range planning. The last sixteen months went so fast. Most agreed the best thing that happened was the birth of baby Joshua followed by Angel.