Happy Trails, Eden: Ride Boldly Into Your Next Adventure 🐴🐾

Some students leave little hoofprints on your heart that you know will stay forever. Eden, sweet girl, you have certainly left yours on mine.

Saying “happy trails” is one of the hardest parts of doing what I love. I get to spend years beside a child, watching skills grow, confidence blossom, and hard work turn into something they can carry into the world. Then comes the beautiful, bittersweet moment when they are ready for their next adventure. Eden, you have worked so hard for this moment.

You have poured time, effort, and determination into building your reading and writing skills. You have asked questions, thought deeply, and kept going when the work required patience and persistence. Seeing you read with confidence and put your thoughts into writing fills me with a kind of pride that is hard to fit into words.

From our very first session, I knew I had better bring my A game. You were going to have questions—and I had better be ready!

You have always been a seeker. A seeker of knowledge, truth, justice, and an understanding of how faith fits into your world. You wanted to know the why. You listened, wondered, questioned, and looked to the people around you to help make sense of it all.

Over time, I have watched you stitch those pieces together into a beautiful quilt of knowledge, experience, faith, mentorship, and friendship. What a privilege it has been to contribute a few stitches.

Somewhere along the way, our time together grew into something much bigger than reading and writing lessons. You shared your life with me. You invited me to school open houses, birthday parties, and soccer games. You welcomed me into your world, and I received the blessing of befriending your entire family—and most of your furry friends, too.

For a girl who loves animals as much as I do, getting to know the horses, dogs and cats alongside the people is a pretty wonderful bonus. 🐈💛

Those connections are among the greatest gifts My Learning Farm has brought into my life. I care about the stories my students tell, the animals they adore, the things they believe in, and the dreams that make their eyes light up. Eden, thank you for sharing so much of that with me.

I will miss our regular time together. I will miss your questions, your laughter, and the joy of watching you work something out and make it your own. But I am so grateful that the friendship we have built gets to continue.

Now I get to cheer from beside the arena. I will gladly come to horse shows to watch you and Buzzy Boy bring that same determination into the ring. I’ll be rooting for you to ride hard, win big, and feel proud of the work that brought you there. Most of all, I’ll be cheering for the brave, thoughtful young woman in the saddle.

To your whole family: thank you. For all the driving, the dedication, the encouragement, and the trust. For the friendship and laughter. For welcoming me into your lives and helping bring the joy of learning to life. Your support has been part of every step of this journey.

Eden, ride into your next adventure with gallantry, curiosity, and that wonderfully determined heart. When something feels difficult, remember the skills you have built and how much your persistence has already helped you accomplish.

Happy trails, sweet girl. Go ride high into the world. Watching you flourish has been one of my greatest joys.

With so much love and a whole barnful of cheers,

Ms. Sara