FREDDIE

Freddie is a horse.  Actually, calling Freddie a horse is like calling the Eiffel Tower a tower or the Mona Lisa a painting.  Freddie was the world to Jordan and Kelly. 
Like most parents raising young kids today their parents grasp at every straw available to them to assure their kids grow up to be good, decent human beings.  Living in an equestrian oriented community and with their children showing a love of horses one of the straws they felt worth grasping was a horse.   

Having made that decision, the search was on.  The kids were quite young at the time so it was important to find a calm, mild mannered horse who loved children.  One who would not run off with them, kick if they walked behind him and not too spicy.  After interviewing several horses they came across an elderly bay named Freddie.  It was a match made in heaven.

The girls became students.  Not just students of how to ride a horse but students of many life lessons unique to pets.  Granted a horse is a big pet but nevertheless, a pet.  They needed assistance getting aboard and very short stirrups for their little legs but slowly they became more and more comfortable in the saddle. 

But that was just the beginning.  Next were the life lessons.  They learned that a pet needs to me fed, cleaned up after, washed, brushed, exercised and loved.  The tack also needs to cleaned, polished and oiled.  It’s ok to go out and ride but they learned you’re not done when you dismount.   When not riding they did their chores, morning and evening

As time went by Jordan and Kelly became more comfortable in the saddle and around the stables.  They progressed from walking to a cantor to a gallop.  Then they learned to jump.  Freddie was the perfect horse for two young girls learning all phases of horsemanship.  All the while, a deep love was developing.

The girls were not burdened by their duties, they eagerly looked forward to them.  Walking down the long hallway at the stables they could see Freddie’s head sticking out of his stall.  He seemed to sense they were there.  He was gentle as he patiently waited for them to learn horsemanship and stood calmly when being brushed, put back in his stall and fed. 

He became ill recently, ill enough to be taken to an equine hospital where he made a brief rally but left us for horse heaven.  As you can imagine Jordan and Kelly are crushed.  All the words their parents say to them do little to ease the pain.  It is one of those times in life you just let them know you are there.  The parent’s pain is in seeing their kids hurt.

As time passes Jordan and Kelly will realize how fortunate they were to have a Freddie in their lives.  The lessons he taught them will serve them well, just as their parents had planned.     

TED



I don’t know how many people can say this but I know a guy that everyone like’s.  I mean everyone.  I have known this gentleman for many years and have yet to meet anyone who has anything bad to say about him.  Do you know anyone like that?  His name is Ted.  He’s kind of a hard guy to describe because he doesn’t look like anyone I have ever known (although he reminds me of a better looking version of Joe Torre).  The best way I can describe him is he reminds me of Andy.  You know, of Raggedy Ann and Andy.  There is not a lot of physical resemblance but Ted just reminds me of Raggedy Andy.  There is the constant smile, hair sticking out from under his cap and the perpetual hang–loose look of Andy.  If Andy could walk I am sure he would jangle along like Ted does.  

My friend Ted happens to have a background in the automotive industry, originally as a racing driver, more recently in the automotive event business.  Any gear head worth his salt can quote you chapter and verse of Ted’s accomplishments in racing.  He had success at every level as a driver including the pinnacle of American racing, the Indianapolis 500.  Along the way he made more friends among those he knew and those he did not know than most of us ever will.  A friend of mine, who was there, said that at the recent 100 year anniversary of the Indianapolis 500 Ted was warmly greeted by the past drivers that were honored and fans alike. 

Currently, Ted is a valued member of the Apex Performance team.  Together they work as a partner with most of the leading automotive companies of the world.  His racing background allows him to provide valuable and insightful feedback to company engineers regarding their products and there isn’t much he has not done when it comes to staging events.

I got a little off track there, I intended to tell of his uniqueness.  He is one of the great story tellers ever, which means stuff always seems to happen when he is around.  That gives him an endless source of material for water cooler talk back at the office.  He is also a great practical joker.  He takes particular delight in telling a story of carving a piece of scrap metal into the shape of a gun and placing it in his roommate’s luggage before he headed to the airport.  Then there was the time he parked his skip loader against the door of a port-a-potty while his friend was inside.  

To say he is easy going is an understatement.  I doubt if his blood pressure has ever risen above 100 over 40.  His pulse is permanently fixed at about 60.  Nothing seems to bother him other than when the Dallas Cowboys lose.  He has a calming effect on everyone around him.

We all have those acquaintances that add richness to our lives.  One of my great joys is to be in a gathering with Ted and his peers while he is at his story telling best (ask him to tell you about the story that ended with the quote "is that for TV or the theaters?")  I have a feeling my life is not the only one being enriched. 

BATCHING IT

I’ve been batching it for the last week or so.  For those of you who aren’t hip, “batching it” means living as a bachelor, as in, all by yourself.  Not that I am a bachelor in the true sense, meaning unmarried.  I am most definitely married and have been for 48 years (to the same woman).  It’s just that said woman has been lounging on the beach in Cabo San Lucas with a couple of her best friends (both girls) for the past week.  I am sure that under her beach umbrella she is monitoring the GPS tracking device she had hidden in my car.  Thank God she is due home tomorrow.

There are those who are cut out for such a life but I am not among them.  To me there is a rhythm to a happy life.  That doesn’t mean living life in a rut and doing the same things over and over but it does mean certain constants must exist for the sake of stability.  One of those is your life partner. 

I love the rhythm of our home when she is present:  The sounds of the TV shows she watches, always happy shows with happy endings, and her voice as she talks almost daily with her sisters over the phone.  I love to watch her water her flowers.  I especially enjoy sitting down to dinner and chatting about the day and what’s going on with our kids.

Then there are the other things most of us men take for granted until she isn’t there.  Like weekend breakfasts.  Almost since day one of our life together she has, rain or shine, prepared the same Saturday and Sunday breakfast.  Eggs over easy, bacon, wheat toast, orange juice and coffee.  Once in a great while she will throw in a buckwheat pancake to jazz things up a bit and call it a pan-san but not often.  Sounds easy, right?  Every time she has taken one of her outings I face the same dilemma.  I get nervous just thinking about it.  How to do eggs over easy without breaking the yolks?  The past two weekends I was a perfect 8 for 8, 8 eggs, 8 broken yolks.  I ended up, as I always do, scrambling the eggs, pretending that was my intent all along.

Then there was the shock upon learning that my laundry does not automatically jump out of our hamper, into the washer, then the dryer and then fold itself.  I even had to get dressed, in case I might be seen by a neighbor, to go out and get the morning paper.  My life partner being an early riser, always has the paper neatly spread out next to my breakfast place setting. 

Like any man worth his salt, I could eventually get the hang of these things but some I could not master given from here to eternity, mainly, just having her near.  I love to have her close or close by.  I am thrilled that she can go on her trips with her close friends but there is comfort in knowing she will be home soon.  She knows me and who I am and she radiates strength and happiness.  It will be good to have her home.