Thanksgiving

Sometimes things take a really long time to percolate through. From stalking ex-racehorses on the internet for months to having a low-key epiphany on the trails, life just went on. And on and on. Funny how we find comfort in the same old, same old even when it feels bad. *Hey, wasn't there a question about that on the mid-life crisis survey thing?

Suddenly, it's Thanksgiving 2008 and there's people to see and food to eat and a whole lotta wine to get the percolation process shifted into a higher gear.

It's endlessly fascinating to me to step back a little and see how life has this amazing way of connecting all the dots for us. Right now, where you are and who you know and what you've learned and thought and felt is probably all coming together somehow for you and in a way that you might be able to anticipate but could never necessarily expect. I know this to be at least a little true because I keep seeing the dots connecting in my own life.

At the top of the page you see my dear friend Rosanne. We met because I was in the process of becoming a florist. I had a friend who had a friend with a flower shop that ran a seasonal garden center and needed somebody to manage it that year. That friend happened to be Rosanne. I interviewed for the position and probably got the job due to the friend-of-a-friend connection as much as anything else.

I worked in the garden shop and later the flower shop and then went off to school to make my commitment to the florists' trade official. All along, I wished that I didn't have to have the employer/employee relationship at the forefront of my interactions with Rosanne, but it was a necessary evil to some extent.

You see, Rosanne and I have oodles in common. Love of plants, animals ( I will feel eternally blessed by my relationship with Bob and Gertie, the Bennett-Van Kampen cats), food, wine, creativity, skinny husbands/boyfriends who do graphic design and love photography, and above all horses. I liked her the moment I met her - Rosanne Bennett always gives a fabulous first impression.

Sooner or later the dots all connect. By Thanksgiving 2008, I was an independent operator sitting at the dinner table talking with my good friend Rosanne and her husband and a lovely group of people who were getting quite philosophical due to all the wine. Rosanne and I talked horses extensively and what came out of that (aside from a wee bit of a hangover)was my own realization that I was serious about getting back into horses and specifically, working with Thoroughbreds.

In the sober light of the following day I felt a bit bad for trying to bully my girlfriend into spending part of her upcoming sabbatical year helping me re-make racehorses into show or saddle horses. I make a very good argument, especially if you give me red wine. The main thing was that I heard myself say it all out loud and, in talking about it, started to piece things together.

Because Rosanne is just such a good friend, she never gave me hell about any of it...she just followed my progress and gave me encouragement whenever it was needed. Rosanne Bennett, you are 100% awesome.