Jim was the most unusual man I had ever met. He was kind, caring, thoughtful, understanding, tough, soft and above all, his family came first. I will never forget how we met. I was driving truck for Coors Beer and was on my way home, from CA. I had pulled into the truck stop in Las Vegas, for some much needed sleep. I had only slept for a couple of hours, when someone was beating on my door, telling me that he was buying breakfast and for me to get up and come to the restaurant. He wouldn't take no for an answer, so I got up and went in. Jim had a great sense of humor and kept me laughing, (on the CB radio) all the way back to Denver. In the months to follow, it seemed like wherever I was at, Jim showed up too. If Coors sent me to San Francisco, there was Jim. If they sent me to AZ, there was Jim. If they sent me to Los Angeles, he was there also. We became very good friends and it seemed fitting that we should be married, where we met, in Las Vegas, NV. Jim was so good to my children and treated them as his own. He never forgot a birthday, anniversary, Easter, Valentine's Day or any other special day. If he wasn't home for a special day, he always called. Jim shared my love of animals and we always had a house or yard full of them. Whatever I wanted, Jim wanted. One time, he was in CA making a delivery and when he called to let me know he was on his way back home, I said, "You'll never guess what you bought me today. A new house." I had been driving around Colorado Springs and saw this 90 year old house and fell in love with it, so I called the real estate agent, went to see it and put a deposit on it. When Jim got home, I took him to see it and he loved it as much as I did. He never knew what he was going to find when he came home. A new dog/cat, a different house, new furnishings. Whatever it was, he never complained. When I wanted to move to Florida, he was all for it, so we sold the house, packed all our things and went to Tampa.
After Jim had the wreck in Chicago, everything changed. He was a different and very difficult person. We decided to divorce and did not see each other for over a year. He was on construction in Hilton Head, SC. When he came back to Tampa, we renewed our friendship. Finally, Jim saw a Dr. in Jacksonville and he told him his head sat on his neck crooked. The Dr. treated him and eventually Jim became his old self once again and our friendship flourished again.
After I went to work as a truck driving instructor, I used to drive past a field where a lot of horses were pastured. One of them really caught my eye. He was a beautiful tri-colored paint gelding. I told Jim about him and he went to the pasture and talked to the owner of the horse and next thing I knew, Skip Bar Buster was mine. In Tampa, we leased 120 acres, surrounding 87 acre, Lake Mango. This is where we started our horse operation. First it was Buster, then for Jim's birthday, I bought him a quarterhorse mare, named Kellys Moonshine, then along came a bucksin mare named Sally. When Jim spent $350 at the Bingo hall, I bought a quarterhorse stallion. His name was Marks Toy, but I requested a name change with AQHA and changed his name to Bingos Revenge. We boarded 2 Arabian mares that belonged to my best friend, Linda and when they both foaled, Jim and I were there. Linda gave us one mare, HH Silkeyna and the 2 foals. I named the first foal, Desert Storm, as Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia started 15 minutes before "Storm" was born. I wrote a poem of "Desert Storm" and received 2 letters from General Schwartzkopf, a letter from the 101st Airborne, (in Saudi Arabia) and one from the U. S. Ambassador at the United Nations. When the second foal was born, she was so tiny and weak and we didn't think she would live, but Jim stayed with her day and night until she was out of danger and he called her Termite. A name that stuck with her.
Jim's boss called me one day and said that Jim was sick and they were flying him home. He'd had a stroke. I met him at the airport and he looked terrible. He limped badly on his right leg and could not use his right arm. Jim never complained and said he would get over it. He was off the road for months, but he did get over it. After the stroke, he tired easily and couldn't do things like he used to do, but he never gave up and never complained. Eventually, he went back to driving over the road. Then at 4 o'clock one morning, I received a call from a Doctor in State College, PA and he wanted to know if I could give him some background on Jim's medical history. They thought Jim might have Pneumonia. I wish it had been, but they found lung cancer and it was terminal. They felt he had about 6 months. That was in August, 1990. He started Chemo and Radiation and finally went back on the road until one year, to the day, he had a seizure in Gallup, NM and it was found he had brain tumors. Jim's biggest fear was being put in a nursing home and left, so September 15, 1991, we remarried, as he wanted me to have the say in what the Doctors did to him when he could no longer decide for himself. Our first wedding was done my way, so I told him we could be married any way he wanted. He said he wanted to be married in blue jeans, so he wore blue jeans and a blue shirt and I wore white bib overalls and a matching blue shirt. We had about 30 people at our wedding and they were all told that they had to wear jeans. By then, we had 5 horses and Jim did not like being in the city, so we, along with another couple, decided to move to North FL. In December 1991, we moved to Madison, FL. What a great town it was and we instantly fell in love with it. The people were so friendly and when they found out how sick Jim was, they went all out to help. Our lives settled into a comfortable routine. Jim was still up and around, so we built stalls in the barn and did some fencing and started to build our horse farm. Two of our mares were in foal and we were looking forward to the next spring. By the end of summer, 1991, Jim was in a wheelchair, but that didn't stop him from wanting to go to the barn to be close to his beloved horses. I used to wheel him down there in the morning, take him back to the house for lunch and an afternoon nap and then wheel him back to the barn, while I fed and bedded the animals down for the night. We had ducks, chickens, 2 baby pigs, goats, dogs and cats. There were also alligators and snakes, in the pond. Not our favorite pets, but we didn't bother them and they didn't bother us. We also had a pot bellied pig that was flown from Denver to Tallahassee by my mother. "Arnold" loved to stay in the house with Jim and was by his side no matter what. Late October, 1992, Jim took a real bad turn for the worse. He was on heavy medication, but in constant pain. He never complained about the pain or his condition and right up to the end, he never lost his sense of humor. I took him to Veterans Hospital, Lake City, FL and stayed with him until he died, November 11, 1992 at 8:30 a.m. Jim was cremated and someday his ashes, along with mine, will be spread over a quiet meadow or a still forest. A couple days after Jim died, his dog, Pooh Bear was killed by a car, on the highway in front of the farm and his mare, Kelley, aborted her baby right after that. In 1995, Kelley had her first live baby and he was named "Jims Eternity." Desert Storm, the foal Jim and I delivered, before moving to Madison, won his maiden race at Delaware Park, DE, July 3, 1996.
I moved back to Evergreen, CO, in October, 1996, to be with my parents, in their advancing age. In January, 1997, Kelleys Moonshine was shipped to Evergreen, CO, where she again, aborted a foal. Kelley is now 24 years old and living in Weld County, CO.
After Jim had the wreck in Chicago, everything changed. He was a different and very difficult person. We decided to divorce and did not see each other for over a year. He was on construction in Hilton Head, SC. When he came back to Tampa, we renewed our friendship. Finally, Jim saw a Dr. in Jacksonville and he told him his head sat on his neck crooked. The Dr. treated him and eventually Jim became his old self once again and our friendship flourished again.
After I went to work as a truck driving instructor, I used to drive past a field where a lot of horses were pastured. One of them really caught my eye. He was a beautiful tri-colored paint gelding. I told Jim about him and he went to the pasture and talked to the owner of the horse and next thing I knew, Skip Bar Buster was mine. In Tampa, we leased 120 acres, surrounding 87 acre, Lake Mango. This is where we started our horse operation. First it was Buster, then for Jim's birthday, I bought him a quarterhorse mare, named Kellys Moonshine, then along came a bucksin mare named Sally. When Jim spent $350 at the Bingo hall, I bought a quarterhorse stallion. His name was Marks Toy, but I requested a name change with AQHA and changed his name to Bingos Revenge. We boarded 2 Arabian mares that belonged to my best friend, Linda and when they both foaled, Jim and I were there. Linda gave us one mare, HH Silkeyna and the 2 foals. I named the first foal, Desert Storm, as Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia started 15 minutes before "Storm" was born. I wrote a poem of "Desert Storm" and received 2 letters from General Schwartzkopf, a letter from the 101st Airborne, (in Saudi Arabia) and one from the U. S. Ambassador at the United Nations. When the second foal was born, she was so tiny and weak and we didn't think she would live, but Jim stayed with her day and night until she was out of danger and he called her Termite. A name that stuck with her.
Jim's boss called me one day and said that Jim was sick and they were flying him home. He'd had a stroke. I met him at the airport and he looked terrible. He limped badly on his right leg and could not use his right arm. Jim never complained and said he would get over it. He was off the road for months, but he did get over it. After the stroke, he tired easily and couldn't do things like he used to do, but he never gave up and never complained. Eventually, he went back to driving over the road. Then at 4 o'clock one morning, I received a call from a Doctor in State College, PA and he wanted to know if I could give him some background on Jim's medical history. They thought Jim might have Pneumonia. I wish it had been, but they found lung cancer and it was terminal. They felt he had about 6 months. That was in August, 1990. He started Chemo and Radiation and finally went back on the road until one year, to the day, he had a seizure in Gallup, NM and it was found he had brain tumors. Jim's biggest fear was being put in a nursing home and left, so September 15, 1991, we remarried, as he wanted me to have the say in what the Doctors did to him when he could no longer decide for himself. Our first wedding was done my way, so I told him we could be married any way he wanted. He said he wanted to be married in blue jeans, so he wore blue jeans and a blue shirt and I wore white bib overalls and a matching blue shirt. We had about 30 people at our wedding and they were all told that they had to wear jeans. By then, we had 5 horses and Jim did not like being in the city, so we, along with another couple, decided to move to North FL. In December 1991, we moved to Madison, FL. What a great town it was and we instantly fell in love with it. The people were so friendly and when they found out how sick Jim was, they went all out to help. Our lives settled into a comfortable routine. Jim was still up and around, so we built stalls in the barn and did some fencing and started to build our horse farm. Two of our mares were in foal and we were looking forward to the next spring. By the end of summer, 1991, Jim was in a wheelchair, but that didn't stop him from wanting to go to the barn to be close to his beloved horses. I used to wheel him down there in the morning, take him back to the house for lunch and an afternoon nap and then wheel him back to the barn, while I fed and bedded the animals down for the night. We had ducks, chickens, 2 baby pigs, goats, dogs and cats. There were also alligators and snakes, in the pond. Not our favorite pets, but we didn't bother them and they didn't bother us. We also had a pot bellied pig that was flown from Denver to Tallahassee by my mother. "Arnold" loved to stay in the house with Jim and was by his side no matter what. Late October, 1992, Jim took a real bad turn for the worse. He was on heavy medication, but in constant pain. He never complained about the pain or his condition and right up to the end, he never lost his sense of humor. I took him to Veterans Hospital, Lake City, FL and stayed with him until he died, November 11, 1992 at 8:30 a.m. Jim was cremated and someday his ashes, along with mine, will be spread over a quiet meadow or a still forest. A couple days after Jim died, his dog, Pooh Bear was killed by a car, on the highway in front of the farm and his mare, Kelley, aborted her baby right after that. In 1995, Kelley had her first live baby and he was named "Jims Eternity." Desert Storm, the foal Jim and I delivered, before moving to Madison, won his maiden race at Delaware Park, DE, July 3, 1996.
I moved back to Evergreen, CO, in October, 1996, to be with my parents, in their advancing age. In January, 1997, Kelleys Moonshine was shipped to Evergreen, CO, where she again, aborted a foal. Kelley is now 24 years old and living in Weld County, CO.
Jim was the most unusual man I had ever met. He was kind, caring, thoughtful, understanding, tough, soft and above all, his family came first. I will never forget how we met. I was driving truck for Coors Beer and was on my way home, from CA. I had pulled into the truck stop in Las Vegas, for some much needed sleep. I had only slept for a couple of hours, when someone was beating on my door, telling me that he was buying breakfast and for me to get up and come to the restaurant. He wouldn't take no for an answer, so I got up and went in. Jim had a great sense of humor and kept me laughing, (on the CB radio) all the way back to Denver. In the months to follow, it seemed like wherever I was at, Jim showed up too. If Coors sent me to San Francisco, there was Jim. If they sent me to AZ, there was Jim. If they sent me to Los Angeles, he was there also. We became very good friends and it seemed fitting that we should be married, where we met, in Las Vegas, NV. Jim was so good to my children and treated them as his own. He never forgot a birthday, anniversary, Easter, Valentine's Day or any other special day. If he wasn't home for a special day, he always called. Jim shared my love of animals and we always had a house or yard full of them. Whatever I wanted, Jim wanted. One time, he was in CA making a delivery and when he called to let me know he was on his way back home, I said, "You'll never guess what you bought me today. A new house." I had been driving around Colorado Springs and saw this 90 year old house and fell in love with it, so I called the real estate agent, went to see it and put a deposit on it. When Jim got home, I took him to see it and he loved it as much as I did. He never knew what he was going to find when he came home. A new dog/cat, a different house, new furnishings. Whatever it was, he never complained. When I wanted to move to Florida, he was all for it, so we sold the house, packed all our things and went to Tampa.
After Jim had the wreck in Chicago, everything changed. He was a different and very difficult person. We decided to divorce and did not see each other for over a year. He was on construction in Hilton Head, SC. When he came back to Tampa, we renewed our friendship. Finally, Jim saw a Dr. in Jacksonville and he told him his head sat on his neck crooked. The Dr. treated him and eventually Jim became his old self once again and our friendship flourished again.
After I went to work as a truck driving instructor, I used to drive past a field where a lot of horses were pastured. One of them really caught my eye. He was a beautiful tri-colored paint gelding. I told Jim about him and he went to the pasture and talked to the owner of the horse and next thing I knew, Skip Bar Buster was mine. In Tampa, we leased 120 acres, surrounding 87 acre, Lake Mango. This is where we started our horse operation. First it was Buster, then for Jim's birthday, I bought him a quarterhorse mare, named Kellys Moonshine, then along came a bucksin mare named Sally. When Jim spent $350 at the Bingo hall, I bought a quarterhorse stallion. His name was Marks Toy, but I requested a name change with AQHA and changed his name to Bingos Revenge. We boarded 2 Arabian mares that belonged to my best friend, Linda and when they both foaled, Jim and I were there. Linda gave us one mare, HH Silkeyna and the 2 foals. I named the first foal, Desert Storm, as Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia started 15 minutes before "Storm" was born. I wrote a poem of "Desert Storm" and received 2 letters from General Schwartzkopf, a letter from the 101st Airborne, (in Saudi Arabia) and one from the U. S. Ambassador at the United Nations. When the second foal was born, she was so tiny and weak and we didn't think she would live, but Jim stayed with her day and night until she was out of danger and he called her Termite. A name that stuck with her.
Jim's boss called me one day and said that Jim was sick and they were flying him home. He'd had a stroke. I met him at the airport and he looked terrible. He limped badly on his right leg and could not use his right arm. Jim never complained and said he would get over it. He was off the road for months, but he did get over it. After the stroke, he tired easily and couldn't do things like he used to do, but he never gave up and never complained. Eventually, he went back to driving over the road. Then at 4 o'clock one morning, I received a call from a Doctor in State College, PA and he wanted to know if I could give him some background on Jim's medical history. They thought Jim might have Pneumonia. I wish it had been, but they found lung cancer and it was terminal. They felt he had about 6 months. That was in August, 1990. He started Chemo and Radiation and finally went back on the road until one year, to the day, he had a seizure in Gallup, NM and it was found he had brain tumors. Jim's biggest fear was being put in a nursing home and left, so September 15, 1991, we remarried, as he wanted me to have the say in what the Doctors did to him when he could no longer decide for himself. Our first wedding was done my way, so I told him we could be married any way he wanted. He said he wanted to be married in blue jeans, so he wore blue jeans and a blue shirt and I wore white bib overalls and a matching blue shirt. We had about 30 people at our wedding and they were all told that they had to wear jeans. By then, we had 5 horses and Jim did not like being in the city, so we, along with another couple, decided to move to North FL. In December 1991, we moved to Madison, FL. What a great town it was and we instantly fell in love with it. The people were so friendly and when they found out how sick Jim was, they went all out to help. Our lives settled into a comfortable routine. Jim was still up and around, so we built stalls in the barn and did some fencing and started to build our horse farm. Two of our mares were in foal and we were looking forward to the next spring. By the end of summer, 1991, Jim was in a wheelchair, but that didn't stop him from wanting to go to the barn to be close to his beloved horses. I used to wheel him down there in the morning, take him back to the house for lunch and an afternoon nap and then wheel him back to the barn, while I fed and bedded the animals down for the night. We had ducks, chickens, 2 baby pigs, goats, dogs and cats. There were also alligators and snakes, in the pond. Not our favorite pets, but we didn't bother them and they didn't bother us. We also had a pot bellied pig that was flown from Denver to Tallahassee by my mother. "Arnold" loved to stay in the house with Jim and was by his side no matter what. Late October, 1992, Jim took a real bad turn for the worse. He was on heavy medication, but in constant pain. He never complained about the pain or his condition and right up to the end, he never lost his sense of humor. I took him to Veterans Hospital, Lake City, FL and stayed with him until he died, November 11, 1992 at 8:30 a.m. Jim was cremated and someday his ashes, along with mine, will be spread over a quiet meadow or a still forest. A couple days after Jim died, his dog, Pooh Bear was killed by a car, on the highway in front of the farm and his mare, Kelley, aborted her baby right after that. In 1995, Kelley had her first live baby and he was named "Jims Eternity." Desert Storm, the foal Jim and I delivered, before moving to Madison, won his maiden race at Delaware Park, DE, July 3, 1996.
I moved back to Evergreen, CO, in October, 1996, to be with my parents, in their advancing age. In January, 1997, Kelleys Moonshine was shipped to Evergreen, CO, where she again, aborted a foal. Kelley is now 24 years old and living in Weld County, CO.
After Jim had the wreck in Chicago, everything changed. He was a different and very difficult person. We decided to divorce and did not see each other for over a year. He was on construction in Hilton Head, SC. When he came back to Tampa, we renewed our friendship. Finally, Jim saw a Dr. in Jacksonville and he told him his head sat on his neck crooked. The Dr. treated him and eventually Jim became his old self once again and our friendship flourished again.
After I went to work as a truck driving instructor, I used to drive past a field where a lot of horses were pastured. One of them really caught my eye. He was a beautiful tri-colored paint gelding. I told Jim about him and he went to the pasture and talked to the owner of the horse and next thing I knew, Skip Bar Buster was mine. In Tampa, we leased 120 acres, surrounding 87 acre, Lake Mango. This is where we started our horse operation. First it was Buster, then for Jim's birthday, I bought him a quarterhorse mare, named Kellys Moonshine, then along came a bucksin mare named Sally. When Jim spent $350 at the Bingo hall, I bought a quarterhorse stallion. His name was Marks Toy, but I requested a name change with AQHA and changed his name to Bingos Revenge. We boarded 2 Arabian mares that belonged to my best friend, Linda and when they both foaled, Jim and I were there. Linda gave us one mare, HH Silkeyna and the 2 foals. I named the first foal, Desert Storm, as Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia started 15 minutes before "Storm" was born. I wrote a poem of "Desert Storm" and received 2 letters from General Schwartzkopf, a letter from the 101st Airborne, (in Saudi Arabia) and one from the U. S. Ambassador at the United Nations. When the second foal was born, she was so tiny and weak and we didn't think she would live, but Jim stayed with her day and night until she was out of danger and he called her Termite. A name that stuck with her.
Jim's boss called me one day and said that Jim was sick and they were flying him home. He'd had a stroke. I met him at the airport and he looked terrible. He limped badly on his right leg and could not use his right arm. Jim never complained and said he would get over it. He was off the road for months, but he did get over it. After the stroke, he tired easily and couldn't do things like he used to do, but he never gave up and never complained. Eventually, he went back to driving over the road. Then at 4 o'clock one morning, I received a call from a Doctor in State College, PA and he wanted to know if I could give him some background on Jim's medical history. They thought Jim might have Pneumonia. I wish it had been, but they found lung cancer and it was terminal. They felt he had about 6 months. That was in August, 1990. He started Chemo and Radiation and finally went back on the road until one year, to the day, he had a seizure in Gallup, NM and it was found he had brain tumors. Jim's biggest fear was being put in a nursing home and left, so September 15, 1991, we remarried, as he wanted me to have the say in what the Doctors did to him when he could no longer decide for himself. Our first wedding was done my way, so I told him we could be married any way he wanted. He said he wanted to be married in blue jeans, so he wore blue jeans and a blue shirt and I wore white bib overalls and a matching blue shirt. We had about 30 people at our wedding and they were all told that they had to wear jeans. By then, we had 5 horses and Jim did not like being in the city, so we, along with another couple, decided to move to North FL. In December 1991, we moved to Madison, FL. What a great town it was and we instantly fell in love with it. The people were so friendly and when they found out how sick Jim was, they went all out to help. Our lives settled into a comfortable routine. Jim was still up and around, so we built stalls in the barn and did some fencing and started to build our horse farm. Two of our mares were in foal and we were looking forward to the next spring. By the end of summer, 1991, Jim was in a wheelchair, but that didn't stop him from wanting to go to the barn to be close to his beloved horses. I used to wheel him down there in the morning, take him back to the house for lunch and an afternoon nap and then wheel him back to the barn, while I fed and bedded the animals down for the night. We had ducks, chickens, 2 baby pigs, goats, dogs and cats. There were also alligators and snakes, in the pond. Not our favorite pets, but we didn't bother them and they didn't bother us. We also had a pot bellied pig that was flown from Denver to Tallahassee by my mother. "Arnold" loved to stay in the house with Jim and was by his side no matter what. Late October, 1992, Jim took a real bad turn for the worse. He was on heavy medication, but in constant pain. He never complained about the pain or his condition and right up to the end, he never lost his sense of humor. I took him to Veterans Hospital, Lake City, FL and stayed with him until he died, November 11, 1992 at 8:30 a.m. Jim was cremated and someday his ashes, along with mine, will be spread over a quiet meadow or a still forest. A couple days after Jim died, his dog, Pooh Bear was killed by a car, on the highway in front of the farm and his mare, Kelley, aborted her baby right after that. In 1995, Kelley had her first live baby and he was named "Jims Eternity." Desert Storm, the foal Jim and I delivered, before moving to Madison, won his maiden race at Delaware Park, DE, July 3, 1996.
I moved back to Evergreen, CO, in October, 1996, to be with my parents, in their advancing age. In January, 1997, Kelleys Moonshine was shipped to Evergreen, CO, where she again, aborted a foal. Kelley is now 24 years old and living in Weld County, CO.
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
