A house without Terriers

We had to put Sparky down today. We diagnosed his bladder cancer about a month ago, although he clearly had had it for a while. The ultrasound by the vet confirmed the inoperable tumor, and we have tried to make the most of every day with him since then.

Sparky picked Scout out when we went to the Scottier breeder in TN 13 years ago. 

Scout's obituary is late because she ran away 3 weeks ago. So hard not knowing exactly what happened, but she was 15+, stone deaf and a little dotty. Sophia and I were on the dam with Sparky, and Scout went up to the house, as she was want to do when she had had enough walk time. But when we returned, she was nowhere to be found despite the red harness and 20 foot red leash. 25000 steps later, it was clear she was nowhere on the park. It seems that like our huskie, Tillicum, back here in the early 70s, she just went off by herself to die.

It will be very quiet around the house without those earth dogs. I hope a picture is worth a thousand words, because my words are not flowing well today

Sparky has killed countless snakes, many moles/voles, some rabbits, a raccoon and a possum. And tried with this turtle

He loved to Kayak. We called him the Commodore:

Scout loved snow and her Kong Frisbee

We called it a FRAP (frantic rapid action playtime). They loved living here

Thanksgiving in Pinehurst in 2008

Spoiled at the end - he was allowed on the dishwasher

His last day - at his favorite place in the world

MS Walk 2017

Quoting my buddy Chuck, "Not too sure how long it has been since I actually sat down and put fingers to keys and felt as if I had something to add to the global blogosphere; but I decided it was time." 

Besides, it's my annual plea for funding for the MS Walk. If you care about nothing else, and just want to give money, click here.

We've been doing the walk for a long time.  You can read about Mary Anne's progress, and why the advances that this walk funds are important to us in these earlier posts:

MS Walk 2009

MS Walk 2010

MS Walk 2013
MS Walk 2014
MS Walk 2015

MS Walk 2016

There were many more walks than that, but I didn't start writing until fall of 2008.

I have been active on the MS board this year. We are beginning a five year 1 Billion dollar campaign. The goal is to eradicate MS and restore lost function. A big dream, but one we strongly share.

I have a team, but need some teammates. If you are in LEX on Satuready 4/1, please plan to walk with me. Let me know and I'll share details

Mary Anne has been doing very well. She came out with me to Pasadena, CA (where my current client is, so where I spend most of the week every other week). She walked around like a trooper. Pictures below.

Huntington Garden

Getty

Herself is doing so well that she is headed to England this spring without me. Thanks to friend Pam, they are headed to Whitby, where they will enjoy a seminar with Martha Lunt.

It's been another great year living out on the creek. We have hosted countless parties, and loved all the time with family and friends. Pictures below are from one of the highlights, Aunt Leslie's 90th birthday party.

Blog posts have been sparce - it's a busy life with all the travel. We are well. Please come see us. We thank you so much for your support.

Mary Anne Jones Horton 1928 - 2016

MA's mama died last Sunday morning in her sleep. The girls called her Anna. She believed that a woman should be in the paper three times: when she was born, when she married and when she died. Her third mention is here.

Her husband of 67+ years, Ira, misses her terribly. They were a devoted couple, a model of what it means to do for one another. We are glad to be able to spend a couple of weeks seeing Ira every day.  We had a service at the Franke, where they have lived for the last nine years, and a graveside service in Orangeburg on May 26th.

Anna loved her children and her granddaughters. She was very happy to make it to Caroline's wedding last fall. She spent hours in the garden while Mary Anne was growing up, and loved her social life in Orangeburg, including weekly bridge parties. She was always impeccably dressed. She knew her Bible better than anyone we know. She was an avid reader beyond that as well, especially British literature. She practically memorized the Samuel Pepys diaries, quoting entire stories and laughing and laughing.

We will always miss Anna.

1968

Alice, Mary Anne, Anna

Laughing before the wedding  1983

Recap from MS Walk 2016

Who knew it could be only 37 degrees at 10am on Saturday April 9th at 10am? Despite the chill (and the wind) we had a great turnout at MS Walk 2016 Lexington. I was proud to serve as the chair of the walk.

It's never too late to give, if any of you missed the opportunity.

The walk made the nightly news (WKYT - channel 27). I was interviewed, but they wisely went with a person who actually had MS. I am, however, in the background over her right shoulder, sporting my Eben hat.

It did make me glad we didn't do the WOC in early spring and get caught by this kind of cold.

Mary Anne and Muv came. Muv did two half mile laps with me. The cold was more than MA could take, so she waited in the building.

Masteron Station was full of people. When people are this strongly touched by a cause, weather is not a deterrent.

I have raised over $3500 so far, and the team is over $4300, with come more checks in the mail. Special thanks also to my colleagues at Xerox for joining the team and raising money.

Don't you love the party hats?

Muv during the walk

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MS Walk 2016

If you are in a hurry, here is the donation link.

The Lexington MS walk is coming up soon, on Saturday April 9th.  If you're in town and can join me at Masterson Station, please join my team. If you want to know more about the walk, or the MS Society, we will be having a kickoff gathering for the walk on Saturday March 12th (who said there is no such thing as a free lunch!). We look forward to another successful event raising money for this very important cause.  We are much more involved with the KY chapter for the National MS society this year; I'm on the board and am the chair of the local walk. The MS Society does great work and we're always thrilled when our friends can help.

We've been doing the walk for a long time.  You can read about Mary Anne's progress, and why the advances that this walk funds are important to us in these earlier posts:

MS Walk 2009

MS Walk 2010

MS Walk 2013
MS Walk 2014
MS Walk 2015

There were many more walks than that, but I didn't start writing until fall of 2008.

The annual health update is basically the same as last year's update. The MS news remains steady, which is positive. Mary Anne's energy level is good, and we've had another year without any exacerbations.  Basically, with this disease, no news is good news..

We appreciate your help in the past, and are always grateful when any of you can contribute again.

Donate to the MS walk on Mary Anne's behalf

MA was moving around well enough this summer to take part in the annual silly string battle at the beach

Milt Patton 1937-2015

My friend Kim's dad passed away the day after Thanksgiving. Here is his obituary. He was with Kim and Sarah and they had enjoyed the feasting together on Thursday.

The whole Patton family circa 1971

Known to some of us that loved him by his Mary Anne given Shaker name, Irascible, Milt was a Father and Grandfather, a genealogist, and just generally an interesting guy. He stopped by the house frequently, proud to show off what his boy had designed to anyone visiting from out of town. He took long road trips to explore whatever historic themes were of interest to him at that time, sometimes taking a grandchild along. He ran for Congress in the late 80's. We took Eleanor to a fund raiser and he got a photo op holding the baby. Wish I had a picture of that.

Milt came with us to encampment at Lake Muscoka. He loved educating us on the history of the logo in the clock on the wall.

Eben & Milt

The memorial service will be held at Yuko-En on the Elkhorn, Kentucky-Japan Friendship Garden, Georgetown, KY on Dec. 12, 2015, at 1:30 p.m.

The last of the siblings

Dorcas Noel Hollingsworth Wiedemann passed away on Thanksgiving Day, November 26th at 88 years old. Here is her obituary. She joins husband Jefferson, her four brothers (including TGP), and her parents Denzil & Polly.

Although Alzheimer's disease took away her ability to recognize even family, nothing ever took away her smile.

Her love of horses was highly influential in the family move to the Bluegrass, and the Hollingsworth clan has been here ever since.

She baked bread in the kitchen at the Holly's, and my brother Dunn always said how much he liked it because she put fresh on it.

We will always miss Aunt Dorcas

Hall Dorcas Donn Kent Vertrees

Dorcas Denzil Kent at the track

Dorcas with her prize for horsemanhip

1935

The Aunt Hill: Dorcas, Leslie, Betty, Alice

Mark, Britt, Randal

Times Picyune Newspaper in college