It’s December, and the holidays are fast approaching…
I still feel them in my body before I think about them…the shortening days, the smell of cold air, the quiet pull inward…When I was a child, Christmas meant one thing above all else…
HOME…
Being Italian, Christmas Eve was everything…The house came alive early in the day…My mother and father moving through the kitchen with purpose and precision, each holding their role without needing to say a word…Mom working on the traditional holiday fare…roast beef, pasta, salad, roasted potatoes etc….Dad immersed in the ritual Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes…the oysters and cherrystones, the stuffed clams, lobster casserole, fillet of sole, roasted octopus…Christmas Dinner wasn’t just a meal…it was an offering…
People filled the house…Family came from everywhere…Friends who were family came too…It was loud, crowded, imperfect, joyful…The kind of warmth you feel in your heart, not just the room…
That’s how HOME was shaped for me…
People…
Food…
Community…
Belonging…
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The world has changed since then…The way the holidays land now can feel strained, hurried, stripped of their softness…There’s a lot pressing in from the outside, a lot of noise, a lot of doing…Sometimes it feels like the meaning gets lost somewhere in the lead up…
And yet…when the actual moment arrives…the real thing is still there…
Love still shows up…
Joy still finds cracks to come through...
Connection still matters…
Mike and I have always protected that…
Whether it was squeezing far too many people into a tiny London living room, or opening our home in Asheville to anyone who didn’t have somewhere to land, the intention stayed the same…If you didn’t have a place to go…you had a place with us…Laughter, conversation, shared tables, shared stories…That sense of togetherness became one of our favorite parts of the holidays…
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And then, in a very real way, we built that intention into the fabric of our lives
We created Missed Path Sanctuary…
This place holds what matters most to us, not just seasonally, but every day...The sanctuary is home…to us, to the horses, to the other rescued animals who now live without expecting to move on…It’s also home to the volunteers who show up consistently, who learn names and personalities, who give their time and receive something just as meaningful in return…
People find their way here carrying all kinds of things…Grief…Exhaustion…Hope…Curiosity…Children meet horses and stand a little taller…Elders light up when a miniature horse walks into the room and brings back something they thought was gone…Visitors arrive expecting a horse experience…and leave feeling steadier, calmer, more themselves…
The spirit people associate with Christmas lives here year-round…
PEACE…
GOOD WILL…
LOVE…
COMMUNITY…
KINDNESS…
COMPASSION…
A SENSE OF BEING CONNECTED TO SOMETHING GREATER THAN OURSELVES…
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These aren’t ideas to us…They’re lived values…
My parents are gone now…They never got to see what the life they built grew into…But I see them every day…I see them in the eyes of a horse who no longer has to wonder where they’ll end up…I see them in the faces of people who come here seeking comfort…I see them in the simple act of opening the gate, setting another place at the table, making room…
The home they modeled didn’t disappear…
It expanded…
It is our deepest wish that your holiday season holds the warmth, love, and belonging of HOME… And if this season feels thin or lonely, if home feels distant or complicated, know this…
There is a place here where you are welcome…
Because everyone deserves to be…
HOME
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Reading With Rescues is a gentle literacy experience where children read aloud alongside our calm, people-loving miniature horse rescues…There’s no pressure, no correction, no performance required…just presence, patience, and soft attention…
At Missed Path Sanctuary, both horses and humans are guided by the same grounding questions…
Am I safe?
Do I know what is expected of me?
When those answers are ‘yes’ confidence begins to grow naturally…
Children read at their own pace…take breaks to connect with the minis…and leave with a quieter nervous system…a steadier voice…and the memory of being met where they were…
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It’s reading shaped by softness…sovereignty…and trust…where learning unfolds because the space allows it…
Designed for school groups and especially well-suited for home schoolers, the program offers small group, or individual experiences that honor different learning rhythms and attention styles…
For educators and administrators, Reading With Rescues supports literacy, social emotional learning, and self-regulation through a clearly structured, values led environment grounded in safety, clarity, and relational trust…
Small groups, outdoor settings, and deeply attuned animals make this a rare experience…one that stays with kids long after the last page is turned…
Sessions can be scheduled as on-site field trips or integrated experiences for homeschool pods and alternative learning environments.
For scheduling and program details, please use the link below…
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Special Thanks to Ruby Ranch
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Our relationship with Laura Ruby and Ruby Ranch began with a horse named Daisy.
When Laura was looking for the right place for her blind horse, she chose Missed Path Sanctuary…not just because of our set up, but because of shared values and a relationship-first approach, even as we were just getting started as an official sanctuary.
Since then, Laura has continued to show up as an advocate for our work. From making space for us during the ASAP Farm Tour to supporting programs like Reading with Rescues, she has helped us reach a wider audience and bring our work into the community.
Ruby Ranch has also welcomed us for events like their Fall Festival and Healing Day, offering the kind of practical, thoughtful support that makes shared work and greater impact in the community possible.
As we look ahead to 2026, we’re grateful to be walking alongside neighbors and collaborators who value stewardship, relationship, and doing right by the horses.
Thank you, Laura and Ruby Ranch…We’re Better Together…
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