Writing back to Eva: A Ray of “Sunshine”

In the early 1900s, a little girl named Eva won a pony named Sunshine. Here is an excerpt from her letter:

I wish I could tell every little boy and girl about our pony “Sunshine” and how happy my brother and I were the day he came. When we started out to get subscribers to win a pony, people would tell us we were foolish and the Webb Publishing Company never gave away real live ponies, and then I would go home and cry, for my brother and I both wanted a pony so bad. But we kept right on trying our very best.

Then the contest finally closed and all we could think of or talk about was our pony, wondering if we would sure win one. Several days had passed by and we had not heard a word and we all began to think there was nothing to it. Then Sunday morning came and we were all going in the country to spend the day. So after we got in the auto to go we children asked Papa if he would drive down past the post office to see if we had heard anything. So we did, and sure enough there was a letter from the Webb Publishing Co. and Papa came back out to the car and handed it to me. Oh my! I was so nervous I could not open it, so Mama had to open it and read it to us and it read something like this, “We know you will be glad to hear you have won ‘Sunshine* and his outfit, which will be shipped you at once.” Oh! dear, can you imagine how we acted ? We just laughed and cried both.

If I could write back to Eva, here is what I’d say:

Dear Eva,

As a mom, I can tell you that there is no greater joy than seeing your children happy. When your kids are happy, you are happy.

I am sure that your mother was so excited to read that letter to you. It made me smile that you were so overcome with emotion, that you laughed and cried at the same time! It is good to have happy tears. Seeing your child with happy tears rolling down their precious face makes it feel like you are doing something right as a mom.

I have seen these happy tears two times with my own children, once over a football game and once over a pony.

Tears of joy: The football game.

Let me set the stage.

The date is October 15, 2015. Michigan State University is playing the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor at Michigan Stadium (home turf for the University of Michigan “Wolverines”). Not only are these two teams huge rivals, but we are a proud Michigan Sate University “Spartan” family. So, this game matters to us. By football standards, we are in enemy territory in Michigan Stadium. My husband, all three of our kids, and our son-in-law are all alum of or (at the time of this book’s publication) students at Michigan State University.

On this gameday in 2015, Luke was just a boy of 11 years of age, but his dad had already turned him into a mega Michigan State University fan. He bled green and white.

This game that I am going to tell you about is known as the “Trouble with the Snap” game. I will spare you the play-by-play of the entire game and bring you up to its incredible ending.

Our beloved Spartans were trailing 21–23 with 8:56 minutes remaining in the game. There were back and forth ball possessions, failed opportunities by both teams to earn first downs, and so on. It was a stressful game to watch. The Spartans were not expected to win.

With 2:06 minutes left on the game clock, the Spartans found themselves on Michigan’s 36-yard line. We were in striking distance to score. Unfortunately, after a quarterback sack and three straight incompletions to their receivers, the Spartans turned the ball back over to the Wolverines on downs with 1:42 on the clock. In other words, it seemed that the opportunity to score one last time was lost as we gave the ball back to the increasingly jubilant and confident Wolverines.

Now with the ball back in their possession, the Wolverines strategically used up as much of the game clock as possible trying to end the game quickly. But they were unable to convert to a first down at a critical point, thus they were unable to run the game clock out. They were facing the fact that they had to give the ball back to us one last time.

Even with very little time left on the game clock (in this case, 10 seconds), turning the ball back over always invites risk.

The Wolverines were set to punt the ball back to the Spartans with 0:10 left in the game. Even though we were getting the ball back, it looked hopeless for the Spartans. Nerves and tensions were high.

The U of M long snapper was prepared to snap the ball to their punter. The Spartans decided not to have a punt returner downfield, which would have been normal, in order to send an extra player after the kicker.

The snap was low which resulted in the punter bobbling the ball and not being in prime form for his punt. This gave the Spartan players just enough time to get a little closer to him. As the punter recovered and attempted to punt it over his head, he was hit by Spartan defenders and the ball flip-flopped in the air to a johnny-on-the-spot MSU sophomore safety named Jalen Watts-Jackson.

Watts-Jackson, with the surprise ball in his arms, knew exactly what to do.

Aided by blockers paving his way, Watts-Jackson was able to rush 38 yards to the end zone and score a touchdown. This pushed the final score to 27 – 23, in favor of the Spartans.

In this incredible “Trouble with the Snap” game, the Spartans WON! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! It was a game ending that no one could have seen coming! A perfect storm of everything going wrong for the Wolverines and everything going right for the Spartans.

Along with the rest of the Spartan fandom across the state of Michigan and the world, our living room erupted. We were all jumping up and down and cheering with joy! What a finish! We were so happy! We were high-5ing, clapping our hands in the air, smiles on our faces, “OH MY GODs!” being screamed!

It was then that I looked over at Luke, who went from jumping and yelling with happiness to falling onto the couch covering his face. I stopped my celebration to look at Luke.

“Luke. Are you okay?” I asked. As a worry-wart mother, I wondered if it was possible for an 11-year-old child to have a heart attack or a stroke. Luke went from total jubilation to a crumpled pile in a matter of seconds.

He slowly turned his face to me and removed his hands and I saw tears streaming down his cheeks.

“I’m just so happy,” he managed to squeak out.

We all gave him a big hug and resumed our celebrations.

Right then, I knew that Luke was going to be okay in life. To have that much passion and joy in your heart, I knew that Luke was going to be a competitor. I knew that he would continue to seek excellence. I knew that he would care about people, teams, and outcomes.

Tears of Joy: The Pony

As the baby of the family, Lila has always had access to the best ponies and horses that I could afford. While her older sister, Loryn, lived the 4-H and open show life, Lila started right out with Hall of Fame miniature horses and World Champion paint horses.

When Lila was just 5 years old, I was on the quest to buy her a high-quality, broke AMHR (American Miniature Horse Registry) horse. I found one advertised on tacktrader.com, a gelding named Allure Ranch Spirits Loyal Guardian. It was a big registered name for such a short guy. The advertisement checked off all of my boxes, except for his color. He was a solid bay. Zero discernable white. We are a family that prefers pintos and paints. A splash of color always makes us happy!

On the way to one of big sister Loryn’s volleyball tournaments in southwest Michigan, I stopped by the Fox family farm (“Painted Fox Ponies”) that had advertised Allure Ranch Spirits Loyal Guardian (aka “Gar”) for sale to see if he would be a good partner for Lila.

It was love at first sight for me. Gar was the most beautiful, perfect boy I had ever seen (and he continued to be perfectly perfect until the day that he died, September 22, 2024). I purchased Gar within 48 hours of meeting him. I had purchased the most amazing miniature horse in the world. And, we unexpectedly, gained amazing friends in Amber, Alyssa, Connie, and X. Our cherished decades-long friendship with the Fox family began.

Little did I know that purchasing Gar would create an opportunity for little Lila to show a few of the Fox family’s amazing miniature horses. We would visit the Fox farm on regular occasions so that Lila could practice with their line-up of stunning beautiful and broke miniatures and Shetlands. One of those miniature horses was “Fred” (GMR Bandidos Lil Flash).

Lila was drawn to Fred the first time that she saw him. Fred was short. Super short, even for a miniature horse. When we arrived at the Fox family farm to practice for the AMHR National Show, Lila said hello to her Gar-baby first but always beelined straight to Fred’s stall immediately after greeting Gar. And Fred loved Lila, too!

So, it only made sense that Fred would eventually become a part of the Schinker family.

The Fox family generously allowed me to trade a Houghton driving cart and a little bit of money for Fred.

It was decided that Fred would be Lila’s Christmas present. I wrapped Fred’s registration papers in your basic all-purpose shirt box. Of course, registration papers make a wrapped box feel like there is nothing inside but air. Lila had absolutely no idea that owning Fred was even an option. Lila was 8 years old. Would she even know what the registration papers meant?

As our family sat nestled around our festively decorated tree on Christmas morning, I nervously watched Lila open the feather-light box. As she moved the tissue paper aside, she lifted the registration papers out of the box. The image on the papers was of Fred, of course. Her eyes got big. Her mouth was wordlessly open. The room was silent as Lila stared at the papers processing what she held in her hands (even older siblings Loryn and Luke did not know that Fred was going to be a “gift” to Lila).

“What is it” Luke demanded.

“Does this mean that Freddie is… mine?” Lila asked me, holding the registration papers so gently it was as if she was afraid that they would shatter like glass.

I replied to Lila, “Yup. What do you think?”

It was then that Lila burst into happy tears. (Luke rolled his eyes).

I walked over and gave my pony-loving little girl a big hug. I told her that her love for Fred was evident and that he deserved her as much as she deserved him.

Right then, I knew that Lila was going to be okay in life. To have that much passion and joy in your heart, I knew that Lila was going to cherish those that she loved. I knew that she would protect and appreciate the people and animals in her life. I knew that she would seek strong relationships and value those relationships.

Fred and Lila have been a great team ever since.

Eva, when your mama opened the letter and read to you and Darold that you had won Sunshine and your tears started to flow, I know how your mama felt in that moment. She probably had a little bit of relief that you actually won, she probably felt some measure of gratitude to the Webb Publishing Company for the opportunity to win a pony, and I’m certain she felt her heart might burst that her dear children were so happy.

Right then, she knew that you and Darold were going to be okay in life. To have that much passion and joy in your heart, she knew that you and Darold were going to appreciate each other and work together to accomplish important things. Not only did you win Sunshine together, but you celebrated together. She knew that you were starting off with a strong bond as siblings.

There are few things that make a mother happier than seeing pure joy and happiness in their children. Tears of joy are a pretty special occurrence.

Warmly,

Regina

p.s. Here are a couple of random tidbits from that “Trouble with the Snap” game:

As the hero MSU football player Watts-Jackson fell into the end zone, he suffered a broken hip after ending up at the bottom of a celebratory dogpile and required surgery.

Also, a fan in the stands suffered a heart attack at the culmination of the game. The fan was hospitalized and eventually recovered.