Sad today

[Hopeful]

I was diagnosed in the spring of last year, around the same time that Barbaro, the great race horse, broke down at the Preakness. Since then, I have felt some sort of kinship with him and his plight. I am reading an article in my local newspaper today, where several other bc patients, diagnosed at around the same time, are having the same reaction. I followed his case closely, but somehow managed not to hear the news on either this past Saturday or Sunday, so was surprised to learn yesterday he had taken a turn for the worst. When I heard of his passing last night shortly after arriving home from work, the only way I can describe my feelings is to say I am truly "grief stricken" - lots of tears and sadness, the depth of which I am at a loss to explain. I guess the experience of "bonding" at least in my mind with another creature who was also sorely tried and who fought so bravely and with such spirit affected me more than I knew. I feel so odd saying my heart is broken, but it is. He really was an inspiration to many. As his owner, Gretchen Jackson said, "Grief is the price we all pay for love."

Hopeful