彤妮 Toni

今天是彤妮 (Toni)在我們公司的最後一天，所以我們幾個同事中午利用午餐的時間去給她餞行。
彤妮和她先生住在波特蘭西邊二十幾英里的郊區，擁有一個很大的農場，養了幾匹馬，幾條狗，和幾隻貓。他們沒有小孩，倆人都在教會的敬拜隊裏事奉，先生彈電吉他，她自己則是個貝斯手。他們同時也在兒童和青少年事工裏服務了十年。彤妮做事非常謹慎，注重細節，能力又強，我也曾從她那兒學到不少東西。今年是她在我們公司服務的第十六年，但她已經與馬共舞二十幾個年頭了，所以她的下一個生涯規劃是當個騎馬教練和給人和馬的醫療按摩師。
她向我們描述了她如何與馬兒們溝通。她說馬就像個小孩子一般，同樣會試牠們主人的尺度、耍性子，她又是如何對馬兒們恩威並施，了解也管教牠們。有次她管教一匹馬，命令牠站在一塊地毯的範圍裏，牠卻故意伸出一蹄放在界限之外，看看她會不會反對。當她給馬兒們按摩過後，牠們也會知道舒服並認得她，見到她來也會興奮得和她説話。有的馬兒按摩到一半時開步就走，那時她就明白是停止的時候了。有時馬兒情緒不好時，她會讓牠們在馬場上盡情地狂奔，疏解情緒，跑完幾圈後又會回到她身邊向她撒嬌。看著她臉上洋溢著得其所哉的笑容和光彩，我就深深地為她高興。
離開公司後，至少開頭的一兩年，她會需要更努力開創她的下一個事業，但是我相信以她的聰慧和認真的做事態度，一定會開闢出一片屬於她自己的天空。我會想念她燦爛的笑容，也願神祝福她的人生，與她同行。

Today is the last day that Toni is with our company, so some of us had a farewell lunch with her today.
Toni and her husband own a farm in a small town more than 20 miles west of Portland. They have some horses, a couple of dogs, and some cats. They don't have children; both serve in the worship team of their current church. She plays bass and he plays guitar. They also work with the children and youth of that church for about 10 years. Toni pays attention to detail and is a very careful person, she is also very knowledgeable with her field, so I have learned quite a lot from her in the past. She has worked for our company about 16 years but she has worked with the horses for more than 20 years, she her next career is to be a horse riding coach and masseuse for human and horse. Her goal is to "helping humans and equines reach and maintain their physical potential" :)
She told us how she interacts with the horses. She said that horses are like children, they try to stretch their boundaries, test their master’s limit, and also have their own temper. She also described how she tries to understand them and discipline them. She said once she was disciplining one horse and commanding ‘her’ to stand on the carpet, but ‘she’ purposely put one foot on the concrete area and watched her reaction... After she had done massage for some horses, they would recognize her and ‘talk’ to her when she walks over. Some horses would just walk away in the middle of the massage session, and she knows it is time to stop when that happens. Sometimes she set the horse loose to run on the court as they want when they are in bad mood or need to release their energy. After many laps, they would calm down and come to her again. I feel so happy for her when I saw the sparkles in her eyes and smile on her face as she talked about all of these.
I think she will need to work her way into her new career in the beginning couple of years. But I believe she will reach her goal soon. I will miss her bright smile, and I pray that God will walk with her and bless her abundantly.