Dad And The Donkey

Tuesday, October 11, 2022.  My dad has had an incredible life.  He was born in Greece, lived through the war, was kidnapped by Germans, came to America and became a citizen… so many stories to tell.  But the one I’m focusing on today is from a trip to Greece when I was maybe eleven years old.  We were staying in his home village of Karitsa way up in the mountains, and everyone decided they wanted to take a day trip to Monevasia - even farther into the mountains.  By day trip, they meant riding on horses and donkeys up a long winding trail and roasting a lamb on a spit when we got there.  I don’t know how long the trip was - maybe a few hours - but I was riding a donkey and my dad was holding its lead.  I remember it was a pretty narrow, rocky trail with a big drop to my left.  There were several people in front of us, and I watched as they approached a rock in the trail that had a cleft in it.  Each one of their horses stepped nimbly over it.  I somehow knew my donkey would step into it, but I kept hoping I was wrong.  I wasn’t.  He stepped right into that cleft and lost his balance, and just like that me and the donkey were sliding down the mountain.  The donkey was scrabbling for purchase and I was hanging on for dear life, but we never would have made it if not for my dad.  He drew on strength that could only have come from God and pulled both me and that clumsy animal back up onto the trail.  It scared the life out of me, and I refused to get back on any animal for the rest of the trip.  I walked hours, but I would have walked days if I had to.  It was an amazing place when we finally got there - a spring trickled freezing cold water straight out of the mountain, the trees at the very top bent sideways from the constant wind, and the dappled shade of the clearing where we had our feast in the forest was a beautiful natural shelter.  But all of that is a small aside to the incredible feat my dad performed that day.  He’s a humble man, and he never mentioned the incident unless I brought it up - probably even forgot about it.  But I never did.  It stands out in my memory with a bright light shining on it.  I know he saved my life.  And I know God was right there with him.