The show must go on -

Doodle and I made to England!
Long week last week saying goodbye to Phil - SO many people calling, sending flowers, stopping by to send their love to Karen and the whole Lende family. A beautiful funeral on Saturday with all three kids speaking and student Hannah Burnnett bring the church to tears signing a new version of Amazing Grace. There was a reception at Karen and Davids house after where we all laughed about our favorite Phil stories...
I left the next morning at 5:30 am with Sue Clarke, our ever wonderful farm manager, to bring Doodle and Allison Springer's Arthur to Gladstone for pre-export quarantine for the trip to Burghley. Fun to see the energy and excitement there - WE ARE GOING TO BURGHLEY.... so much going on, I almost forgot to take it in!
Dr Sarah Gold stopped by to run fluids on the horses to make sure they were hydrated - Shannon, Buck's groom, and I were flying with the horses and said goodbye to the other riders and grooms who left for their respective flights. Last minute instructions were noted and we left the horses for a while to rest; we all had a big night ahead....
Back to the brans at 10pm to meet the export vet, temps taken and ID's checked - boots on and horses loaded at 11:30 for the drive to Newark for the 3:30am flight.
Shannon and I grabbed a quick 15 minute nap followed by a diet coke (or two) to get into gear to load the horses onto the pallets with their hay, water jugs, buckets and airplane bags.... all on and sorted - and wheels were up at 3:40.
Flight was great - horses traveled like veterans - next thing I knew, we were unloading our gear at Laura Krauts at 5:15pm (UK time) with the horses eating dinner.
THAT was the easy part -
Shannon and I headed back to the airport to get my rental car.... we almost fell over laughing at the size of it - it says it holds 5 people - we could hardly fit 4 and 1 duffel bag. It is a tiny two door Fiat - gray with a red, white and green racing stripe down its side.... we call it the Italian Stallion - or Rocky to those who know it.
We then got on the M11 the wrong way (note - we weren't supposed to get on the M11) and the next exit was 14 miles away - SO - back again - we made it to the hotel. Forgot to mention, we had a GPS too - lack of sleep can effect your sense of direction. Got checked into the hotel and then had to make back to the horses to check them and get Hillary and Aubrey - Missy and Beckys groom, And again - it took 3 times as long as it should take to get there.... oh well - we now have all the addresses and have even made it back and forth without the GPS.
The horses have all shipped great - the stables are AMAZING - 20' x 20' stalls, nice indoor, plenty of hacking, and great turnout. All the horses had a long turnout and hack. The rest of riders will be here tomorrow, so it will be back to business. Laura and her crew have been amazing taking great care of us -
Off to bed - jet lag is kicking in...
more soon.....

Sad times for the O'Connor Event Team

We lost our surrogate Grandfather Tuesday. Karen's dad, Phil, died after he fell at the house. He had a cerebral hemorrhage and never regained consciousness.

Phil was the kindest man - for those that knew him will remember him as soft spoken and funny. His dry wit would catch you off guard and have you laughing with him. He was very proud of all his children; Chip, Karen and Steve and all his grandchildren - Phil had an amazing life - an avid photographer, he told amazing stories of photographing atomic bomb testing in the southwest for the army. He was MADLY in love with Joanne - so happily married for 55 years.

Karen's parents had a big house here in Virginia and would be chaperones to everyone that came to ride with Karen and David, but wasn't old enough to live by themselves. From Will Coleman, Will Faudree and Clark Montgomery to Lauren Keiffer, Hannah Burnett and Anisa and Kendall Tracey, we were all lucky enough to spend time at their house and have the honor or knowing Phil. Let alone Christmas and Thanksgiving - too many names to list.

I came to the O'Connor Event Team on December 12th, 2001. I lived with Joanne and Phil for the two weeks before we left for Florida. I was nervous about living with "Karen's parents" - that all went away in the first 5 minutes I was there. Wide open hearts and arms - I was very lucky to be there. My life is so much richer for knowing him.

The OCET is going to miss Phil; one of the Founding Fathers. We will try and be great for him and try and make him proud. We will miss his smiling face at the horse shows, with the dogs on a leash, carrying a chair for Joanne to sit on and the quick grin we would get when he would see us.

Remember to appreciate the people around you - they are priceless - and tell them you love them.

Be good Big Phil! We miss you.....