I'll Take Parker to Show in the Sixth

I went to the horse races a couple of years ago with my wife, brother and my sister in law. Every twenty minutes we would look at our programme and try to figure out what the best horse was to bet on. We would analyse the horses' past races, see who the jockey was and even ask the person beside us once in a while. But we never could choose the correct horse to bet on. After five races we were destined to leave the track down a good 50 dollars. It was then that I told my wife to throw the programme away and follow me to where the horses left the stable and made their way to the track. We watched each horse as they made their way to the starting gate. It was then that we noticed a single stubborn horse. All the other horses marched in a single line with their jockies sitting up straight on top of their horse. But this horse would have none of it. The horse's trainer did everything he could to keep the jockey on him. Then, when the horses did reach the gate another delay occured. The same horse refused to settle for quite some time forcing the jockey to get off the horse until he calmed down. It was then that I told my wife it was this horse we would bet on. We grabbed a programme and noticed that this stubborn little horse had 60-1 odds to win. We ran to the window and placed a five dollar bet for him to Show. When the race began our horse seemed to be doing what everyone had expected, he sat there at the back of the pack. And then, when no one expected, he displayed a burst of energy like no other. Down the stretch we watched him pass horse after horse. He was focused on one thing and one thing only. To show everyone that he could do what no one had expected. In the sixth, our horse came through. He finished ahead of all the other horses and our five dollar bet to show was enough to cover our losses and some. Parker is a fighter and we know in our hearts that he will beat all odds.

Yesterday was another difficult day on 8B. Hannah, a beautiful four year old lost her fight against cancer. Our hearts go out to this family and our thoughts and prayers are with them as they cope with this significant loss. As each day passes, we are learning more and more to cherish each moment that we have with our loved ones and to be thankful for the time we have been given to share and express that love.