Ranch Rat Stories

Hello cyber world my name is Michael, but Grandma Alice calls me Mikie, don’t you try it. She and Pa are the only ones that can call me that. I have a story a lot different than most of the kids you will here from. Yes they all had problems but mine was different. My mom was a big time druggie, and my dad was in prison because of drugs and booze. My aunt was a friend of Grandma’s daughter and when I went completely out of control. They asked if I could stay there, and see what could be done. I was into the gangs and drugs and hated the world. Especially my mom and dad. We would get into fights, and she would hit me with anything she could find, and I would hit her back. I was stealing and beating up smaller kids and just being a real bad ass. Well Grandma said she would give it a try, but by HER rules, with no outside interference. Boy was I in for a surprise! Grandma told me the rules and I told her I would try, but I knew it would not work cause no one could whip or change me it was in my blood to be bad. Well I lived there for 9 years. I hardly ever saw my mom or my sister. All the time I was there my mom never even offered so much as a slice of bread to help support me. As a matter of fact she was so strung out on drugs that when Christmas came she bought me 2 pairs of pants from the second hand store. That wasn’t to bad, but they were girls pant and did not even come close to fitting, She also bought me socks that were for toddlers. Thank God she is off the drugs now and has been clean for several years. I first thought that because Grandma was old that I could push her around boy did I find out that just don’t happen to her. Every time I would get out of line she would use some kind of marshal arts thing on me and drop me to my knees. She would sit down with me every night to help with my homework, and make sure I did my chores. I used to try to bully the other kids that came over because I lived there they didn’t. But she put me in my place there to. I had and still do have real *macho* issues, but they are not near as bad as they used to be. I hated everything about every one and every thing. I always had to try to make myself look better than anyone else and I did that by trying to make them feel bad about themselves. Of course that really only made me look bad. I soon learned to at least act like I could respect someone. I don’t know why she never gave up on me. I most likely never will know. For nine years I tried every thing I could think of to get her to throw me out, but she would never give up on me. She said that no matter how bad we are, there is good somewhere in everyone, yea like I really believed that. But then something started happening I did start to find out it was ok not to be the best and that sometimes it was good to let other’s feel good about themselves. I remember one time when Grandma said if I didn’t sit down and shut up she would take and put her right foot up along side the left side of my head. I laughed she is only 5’5" and I was over 6’ by then, oops she did it. I never saw it coming and she didn’t do it hard enough to hurt me just to let me know she could. Then you should have seen my face the first time I saw her throw a full grown horse to the ground and hold it down so we could doctor it because we couldn’t get a vet out till the next day. My god that is 1200 lbs. but she convinced me then and there it is not how big but how smart you are. Sometimes we would spar with each other. She would not teach me the marshal arts she used because she said I was not responsible enough to use it right. She was right to I would have used it to hurt someone or bully some one. 9 years came and gone my mom never did give so much as a slice of bread for her raising me. Buying my stuff taking care of my horse Sugar Baby, feeding me, taking care of my medical bills. She gave me everything and never asked for anything except to treat her and others with respect. I never understood it. I thought for a long time that my mom was paying her to take care of me, but she didn’t. I don’t think if my mom offered she would have taken anything from her. I know Grandma didn’t like my mom because of the way she did us kids, but she would never let us say one bad word about her or my dad. She would always say something like *well you know your mom has a problem* or *maybe she will change* or * that’s enough, good or bad she is still you mother*. I don’t know how she did it. I really liked going out and helping the old people, but for the wrong reason then. I did it because it made me *look* good, not because it made me feel good. Now I help whenever I can and now it is because it makes me feel good. And Pa there is no one like him. For the first few years I really hated him. I thought he was a big wimp. Because Grandma was always in control and everyone did as she said. He was supposed to be the man, that meant the boss, Boy was I wrong. He use to tell me that she was the boss because she knew more than him about what we did. It didn’t seem right, my dad was always the boss, and if my mom didn’t like it he would just beat her up and show her he was the boss. I understand now that being bigger or stronger does not make you the boss it is what is in your head and your heart. Just like I know, because I over heard them talking many times, he wanted to give up on me, but she wouldn’t have anything to do with that. For 9 years she would say he’s changing slowly but surely. Well I am now more of a man than my dad ever was and I will not raise my 2 beautiful kids the way he did me. I will teach them love and respect and honor. I did make it through high school and now have a good job, my life is now about being a better father than my father was, that is really not very hard, my kids will not grow up to cause the hurt and pain I did. I still have issues but not like I did. But here in the real world sometimes I really want to just call Grandma and say I’m coming home. Sometimes I think I left to soon. But I had to leave the nest at some point. I really hope that Grandma and Pa feel that they did help and change me. Because believe me if it was not for them I would be in prison, most likely on death row. I am not making it up. When I went there I was proud of my dad being in prison I thought it made him a big man among men. It just meant he was a fool. and a jerk and some other words Grandma would never let me say. I never became the man I could have been because I was always to busy trying to be what everyone else saw me as, but I am a better man than I ever thought I could be. So you see the ranch isn’t just about horses or having a few kids hang out it is about learning. Learning about life how to be a REAL man or a REAL woman. It is about learning to share and to care and to love without expecting it back. All the wonderful things I did back then at the ranch I wish I could go back and do them again this time for the right reason. A long time ago Grandma told me the ranch youth program wasn’t about teaching kids to ride but teaching them to love, respect, and honor others. She always said we will change the world one horse, one child, at a time. Well she has changed a lot of lives. While I am the only one that stayed living there for 9 years there were lots of others that came and lived with us to. And most of them turned out pretty good, not all of them but most of them. And do you know that she never asked for one penny for helping us. For feeding us or anything else. I wish I had the money to help her out now but with 2 kids she wouldn’t take it if I tried to give her some. No not because she is to proud but because she knows how hard it is to raise kids, and how expensive it is. She says Grandfather will provide what we need in his own way. I sure hope he hurry’s up it really hurts to see them both like they are now. But you know she still smiles and tells me everything will be OK, not to worry. I wish I had their strength. I wish we all had her love of life. She still feels she is the richest person in the world because she has people that love her and she has done what she loves to do, and she has helped change the world even if it is only for a few. Instead of whinning about the bad things she talks about the good things. In a way it almost makes me mad. That something this bad could happen to someone that good. I know everyone here misses both of them and I bet the people up there don’t know how lucky they are to have them there. I hope as soon as my kids get old enough that I can start taking them up there so they can learn about life like I did from the BEST. I owe my life to the ranch.