Holiday Stories,Hallmark Style


Going to Graceland by Crystal Pickett


It started with a prayer… And then the journey. One sturdy hoof-step at a time and one heart full of hope. On Sunday, October 7, Tom Cashman and Homer T e Mule left West Friendship... eight days and approximately 900 miles later they arrived in Memphis, Tennessee.


Why Memphis?


Memphis is best know as the home of Graceland, but Memphis is also a land of grace and home to the St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. A place where potentially terminal illnesses are valiantly fought. A place where there is never a bill for treatment, travel, housing or food – for the patient or the family – and a place where Tom and his family spent too many long days and even longer nights as doctors struggled to save the life of his 14 year old granddaughter, Erin Nicole Myers. Erin eventually did succumb to the ravages of cancer on April 3, 2012. Tom left Maryland with the hope of raising $5,000 for St. Jude’s. Tom was determined to “pay forward” that kindness his family experi- enced by raising money for the future families St. Jude’s will host until such centers are no longer needed.


Why now, fi ve years later? Because Tom just retired as manager of Chanceland Farm, the T oroughbred breeding and training facility owned by Bob Manfuso and Katy Voss in West Friendship, and this ride is Tom’s fi rst “To Do” on his bucket list. Actu- ally, his mule Homer just retired too, as it was his job to help Tom break the yearlings.


Why a mule? Because Erin loved to ride Homer around Chanceland. T e Equiery was there for Tom and Homer’s send-off ceremony and posted live coverage on Facebook of their fi rst mile or so along Route 144 with a link to their fundraising site. Equi- ery readers enthusiastically followed Tom and Homer’s journey on Facebook. His goal was $5,000…but the check Tom handed to St. Jude’s was closer to $10,000! T ank you, Equiery readers! Merry Christmas!


www.equiery.com | 800-244-9580


Tom Cashman and his mule Homer at the start of their 900- mile journey to Memphis, TN, to raise funds and awareness for St. Jude’s Childrens Hospital.


Life with Brynn by Jo Meszoly


“I know who you are! You’re Brynn’s dad!” T e star-struck comment was directed to my husband at a party last summer. His name is Martin, but among these horsey guests, his affi l- iation to the infectious 7-year old was suffi cient. Like other one-name celebrities (Cher,


Oprah, Madonna), our youngest child, Brynn, has become something of a micro-celebrity among equestrians in upper-Montgomery County, especially among the members of the Potomac Hunt Club – just by the force of her personality, famous for just being Brynn. Had Brynn gravitated


toward horse shows, she’d be just another cute kid in the ring. But at age fi ve, she latched onto fox hunting. Within a few outings,


she’d shunned


the lead line, keeping up with the second fi eld. T at fi rst season, she hunted 15 times, arriving late to kin- dergarten in mud-splat- tered jodhpurs and boots. A fox-crazy and brazen young rider, with presence and personality to spare, Brynn quickly devel- oped a devoted following of fans. Her father and I merely the supporting cast in “T e Brynn Show.” T at is the Brynn that most people know. T e Brynn they don’t know straps on a vest


when she’s healthy. If she’s sick with a respira- tory infection, things are far worse. Brynn was born with Cystic Fibrosis, a genet-


ic, life-threatening illness that aff ects her lungs, pancreas and other organs due to a defective gene that causes abnormally-thick mucus. CF is debilitating and patients generally become progressively worse. Decades ago, CF patients rarely survived beyond elementary school age. By maintaining lung health as long as possible, it is possible to at least slow the progress of the disease. At present, thanks to medical and ther- apy advancements, the average life expectancy is age 38, though many with CF live far longer. In reality, life span is largely dependent on how severely an individual is aff ected. With Brynn, that remains a question mark.


Raising Brynn At equestrian events or public outings, people


often remark that Brynn is cute, sweet and out- going. But our family and friends know that she has an alter-ego that ranges from stub- born to explosive. Years ago, we nicknamed her “Brynnzilla,” based on the tyrannical movie- star monster who devastates Tokyo. Over time, it’s been shorted to “Zilla,” which leads to awk- ward explanations about her unusual name. Like other parents, Martin and I grapple with


resistance concerning chores, homework and cleaning up, but we also battle Brynn over her therapy, which she’s supposed to undergo twice daily, every day. Possibly every day forever.


She hates Brynn Miller out riding with Potomac Hunt


wearing her vest, and the experience is time consuming and un- comfortable. T e few occasions when she was hospi- talized were stressful and unsettling, but the daily struggle over her therapy is relentless. I shiver to contemplate high school, because she’s already mastered so


many teenage skills. She defl ects the various approaches we employ, wielding her temper, moodiness and unwavering resistance. T ere are days when I’d like to leave her curbside, be- side the recycling bins.


every morning, which infl ates with air and pounds her chest and back for a half-hour. She wears a nebulizer mask which delivers aerosol- ized medications and swallows a fi stful of pills with every meal. And that’s on a good day,


Isolation While there’s an active CF community, the illness is inherently alienating. We consult oth- er parents for advice, but our children will never


continued... DECEMBER 2017 | THE EQUIERY | 15


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Crystal Pickett


Karen K. Wenzel


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