The Rocking Horse Called Gallopina

“And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.”Mark 10:16

Gallopina had belonged to Tamsin, who died of a brain tumour at the age of seven. On the day she first saw the horse she cried, “My beauty, my beauty, my love love love.”

The restorers wrote those exact words on the rockers. When the horse was returned, her parents could almost hear her voice again.

Grief does not always need an explanation. Sometimes it needs the beloved object back, with the child’s own words still attached to it. The horse could not return Tamsin. It could hold what she had said when she was full of joy.

Jesus took children in his arms and blessed them. He did not wait until they were older or more useful. A child’s love matters to him. The words Tamsin spoke over her horse were small and complete. God does not lose words like that. He does not lose the child who said them.

At Mass we pray for children who have died, and for the parents who have to keep living. We do not pretend that a repaired toy is enough. We place the child in the arms of Christ, who has already held children and has already passed through death.

The writing on the rockers lets her parents hear her happiness for a moment. The greater hope is that Tamsin herself is alive in God. One day they will not need a wooden horse to come close to her. They will see her. Until then, this small mercy is allowed to remain.

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