Riding The Wave – Multiple Myeloma

If you look thru the windows you will see the paddocks (click to enlarge)

“Paula is one of the gifts my mother left for me before she died.” – Lori

I’m off for my annual trip to Lexington, KY to visit my dear friend Paula at her place, “Rosehaven”.

This annual trip started the year before my mother’s death, with the invitation for my then 10 year old daughter to compete in the invitational diving meet at UK Lexington.

My newlywed, pregnant parents were befriended by Paula’s older, wiser, parents in Lake Charles, Louisiana in the late 50’s. Paula was 9 then, adopted by the Whitehead’s as a baby, who were ‘older’ parents. My Mom & Dad had no furniture and few friends, when they moved in next door to Bill & Betty, who immediately took my mother to their storage unit to grab some furniture. Much to my mother’s pleasure and horror (the responsibility), it was filled with european antiques, and that little settee in the photo above was my mother’s first couch.

A portrait of Paula

Paula remembers when I was born. She was on the school bus and saw my parent’s car in the circle at the hospital on her way to school that morning. She fidgeted all day waiting to get home and meet me. She said I was her very own live baby doll and still the prettiest baby she has ever seen. (I wonder if that has changed with the arrival of her first grandson this year!) 

She adored and idolized my parents. She says they were like Hollywood movie stars to her. My mother spoiled her like a kid sister and Paula loved it! Whenever my Dad received a promotion, her father would send his insignias to be pinned on my father’s uniform in the ceremony. In the military world, this is a very high honor.

I only met Paula once when I was 9 and she was 18. She was coming home from Greece where they were stationed, to head off to college at UK Lexington. Over the years however, I wrote to Aunt Betty and Uncle Bill regularly and kept them abreast of my goings on in life. I saw them a couple of times. After they passed away my mother continued to stay in fairly regular contact with Paula, recounting to me all her amazing successes in the horse business. My mother was so proud of her. She breeds and trains award winning Saddle Bred horses. She works for Keeneland Racetrack documenting the lineage of all the horses lucky enough to get into the “sales”. She discovered she has an almost photographic memory for horse lineage. She was one of the early female trainers of race horses back in the early 60s. She is called regularly to consult on purchases by folks living in and visiting Lexington.

When Montana got an invitation to the meet, I called my mother, excited. She said, “You have to call Paula!” Oh dear, I didn’t really know Paula. “Mom, why don’t you call her, it would be great to see her while we are there.” So she did. Paula was very happy we were coming but… “Chris, I want you to come. I want to see you!” My mother was very sick at the time. She cried. She wanted to go too. I rearranged our flights separate from the team and got airport assistance and we flew directly into Lexington vs Louisville so my mother wouldn’t have to endure an hour long car ride. Paula picked us up and my mother stayed with her, while we stayed with the team. She brought my mother over for practices and the meet. She arranged for the girls on the team to have riding lessons from a top Saddle Bred trainer. Montana rode William Shattner’s parade horse, whose name happened to be “I Prefer to be in Montana”. It was an amazing trip.

The following November, my mother died. Paula and I had regular phone calls throughout the year after our visit. We were both hoping that we liked each other and could carry the Whitehead/Hudson friendship forward. Montana was invited again to the meet and we stayed with Paula for the next couple of years that she participated in this diving meet. After that, I just decided to just keep going. So every year in early December, I travel to Kentucky and spend some days hanging out with Paula, Christmas shopping, eating lunch in marvelous old restaurants and enjoying what Kentucky has to offer. It’s amazing to wake up in the morning with hot coffee and look out on her pastures and see all the horses romping around.

I have met amazing people on my annual treks there. I feel like it’s another world and that I’ve traveled to a far away place. People in the horse business live and breath it 24/7. It’s a bit like farming, it’s everyday. It has become a yearly tradition for Paula and I. We thoroughly enjoy it and really do consider that it was the gift my mother left to both of us. To be there for one another.

If you a would like a great book to read, check out Wild Ride by Anne Hagedorn. It’s a true crime story that happened on Calumet Farms, across the road, not far from Paula. Paula helped the author in her investigation while writing the book. In order to understand the crime, Ms. Hagedorn gives you the history of thoroughbred racing. It’s a fascinating read and as a result of the book, the bad guy went to prison.

Because I go to Kentucky during this time, I’m a tad crunched for the holiday preparations. Normally it would be fairly routine, but since we are traveling to see the children on the east coast, I’m feeling a bit of pressure. I’ve been weaving and rag rugging like crazy before I leave, and thus, my blogging has been quite thin. For that you have my apologies.

Enjoy your holidays. Don’t forget to postulate good stuff for 2012. And if you are currently in treatment, as we were all through the holidays in 2008, be grateful for your treatment, your support, and your loved ones. Nothing else is of importance right now. Dave and I really worked on our frame of mind through the holidays and his onslaught of treatment. We felt grateful that there was treatment and that we could use that time for him to get well. It was the greatest of gifts.

Photos of Rosehaven from past visits along with a few of my latest weaving adventures. You can click on the photos to speed it up.

Tags: Kentucky, Paula, Rosehaven, Wild Ride