Saturday Slight

Well, Bill and I are both walking around with hitches in our get-alongs this morning. He tweaked his lower back after pushing a stubborn-to-start rototiller across the lawn and then leaning over to pull the cord. That was Thursday morning.

Today, I received a reminder of my 30-year lower-back weakness while pushing a pile of dirt clods with a landscape rake across a heap of compost. I think it's the cold, dank weather that's contributing to our bodies' protests toward physical labor. Whatever it is, we'll be walking and sitting gingerly for a while. Guess that's what happens to old farts!

Anyway, it's Saturday after a rollercoaster week. There's not a lot of cheery stuff in the air this morning except the expectation of this afternoon's Belmont Stakes. Go Big Brown. I hope my kids have a chance to watch, although I think Annie's out training on some high mountain over there around Seattle, could even be Rainier.

The reason I'd like Willie and Annie to see this possible historic race is that the last two Triple Crowns were won the years they were born, respectively, in 1977 with Seattle Slew, and in 1978 with Affirmed.

I haven't been able to watch the first two legs of the Triple Crown because of being out of town both times, but everything will stop when today's race and its preliminaries begin. I'll be in front of a tube somewhere, maybe my mother's. She's been having a tough go of it lately, but she's watched those first two races, and she's rarin' for Big Brown to take the third jewel.

My sister Barbara says he's amazing because he makes it look so-o-o easy. So, I'm anxious to see what the horse can do, and like with any great horse race, I'll probably shed a tear or two if he wins. Horses tend to do that to horse lovers.

Speaking of horses, my Lefty will be coming back to the Lovestead in the next few days, and next weekend Lily comes home from boot camp. Monty told me earlier this week that she is coming along very nicely and that she's going to be a good riding horse for me. He's got her walking, trotting, cantering both ways of the arena (out of the round pen for some time), turning on the forehand and side passing.

By the time we pick her up, he'll probably have ridden her down the road a time or two also. He'll spend some time showing Laurie what buttons to push. I might get on her next week for a short spin, but Laurie will continue her training and will show her in some horse shows this summer. When I feel comfortable to just saddle her up and go, I'll do that. It will be a great day.

Of course, readers know the loss of a good friend has dominated the week for me and for hundreds of others. So, I'm going to end today's post by cutting and pasting a letter written yesterday to staff by Coldwater Creek CEO Georgia Shonk-Simmons.

Jenny aka www.mangymooseacres.blogspot.com
started her professional career at Coldwater Creek, and as you'll see, left the universal impression that we've all experienced.

Hello everyone,

It’s with a great deal of sadness that I share with all of you the news that Jenny Jacobson Meyer, a dear friend of many of us and a former employee of this company, passed away yesterday afternoon at Kootenai Medical Center following a very long and difficult battle with cancer. Jenny was 34 years old and leaves her husband, Jeff and her seven-year-old daughter, Grace.

Prior to her illness, Jenny contributed her talents to a number of areas within the company. Many of you will remember her as the petite, can-do person with an infectious personality who brought such remarkable sunshine into the hearts of everyone she worked with. She was a quintessential team player and an unforgettable young woman.

Few of us will have the privilege of knowing someone as gracious and full of life as Jenny. Her faith and her family were always at the core of her personal courage. And they fueled her fierce determination to share her story and her optimism with others throughout the long struggle with her disease. In her short life, Jenny likely accomplished more in the last years of her struggle with this disease, than most of us could claim in a lifetime.

It goes without saying that the medical expenses incurred as a result of her long illness have caused serious hardship for her family. With that in mind, and in memory of Jenny and all that she gave to us, Coldwater Creek has put in place an advanced education fund at the Wells Fargo Bank for contributions specifically earmarked for her daughter, Grace. You may make your donations at any Wells Fargo Bank location to the “Grace Meyer Scholarship Fund.”

Services are scheduled for 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, June 11 at First Christian Church. Coffelt Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.

Note: Additional information about remembrances appears on Jenny's blog at (www.mangymooseacres.blogspot.com)