But this week, the big events that are usually spread very thinly crowded into my life. Last Tuesday, True Prospect Farm suffered the horrible loss of the barn and 6 horses plus injuries to 5 more and to 3 riders in a barn fire. These are not strangers on the news, but friends and colleagues, horses I know and have seen at many events. I've given a bit of money, rounded up a few things that might be useful, expressed my sorrow and been proud to be part of the eventing community that has stepped up to help in so many ways. Despite all of this, on Friday, Caitlin Silliman completed the sale of my young horse Tag to the perfect home with a dressage rider in Florida. His new owner heard of the fire and called, very worried before the sale went through. Luckily Tag was down the road and is well and will be heading off soon. Kudos to Caitlin for dealing with all the sales details, while dealing with Hoku's injuries, all the losses, moving into a new home... This is a real horseperson and I'm proud to have her as a friend.
Meanwhile, Henry and I looked at "Country Homes" in Kennett Square and environs. I've been wanting a place to spend some time out of the city and closer to the horses and Henry has agreed that it might be fun. We found a place we quite like,
This morning we made an offer on it. Then on Wednesday, Henry heard that his promotion to Full Professor at Penn has gone through, so we headed off to celebrate.
Saturday, I headed down to Waredaca to volunteer. All was going well until just as SJ was ending, I received a call from my brother that my mother was not doing well. Less than a half hour later, she took her last breath. My brother was able to be with her and said she was very peaceful at the end. I spent Saturday evening with my extended Waredaca "family" and was immensely comforted by their kindness and care.
So in a single week there has been a family death, a close at hand tragedy, a new home (or at least the potential of one), a promotion and a horse sale (my first since 2004 - and that one I have since bought back). The small things happened too. A paper was accepted, another submitted. I jumped my first course on my new horse, which was the first time I have jumped 8 fences in a row since March of 2010. We had dinner on the roof deck of our city house for the first time. Henry found baby lobster tails and had another culinary triumph last night. Thank goodness, life goes on.
3 comments:
Very sorry to hear abour your mom. Congrats on the good things and for your wise perspective on things.
Seema - I'm so sorry to hear about your mom. Many congrats on Henry's promotion and on the new house. I'm also sorry I've missed my last two chances to spend some quality chat time. Saw you at Fair Hill judging SJ but you looked busy. Hope to see you soon and love your blog.
Condolences on the loss of your mother. I hope all goes well. It certainly was a busy week but you, of all people, have the strength to manage all of that! Thank you so much for sharing.
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