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The horse world lost
an enthusiastic fan and promoter this year. She was Eunice Puccinelli,
one of my closest friends over the past fourteen years. A special song
that both of us loved was, “Over the Rainbow,” and I think it is the
perfect title for this unusual story.
Eunice loved our
Morabs and other horses, and she never missed the Midwest Horse Fair.
She was always willing to help with the booth, and she attended several
of the births of foals at our farm. When I started the Region IV Open
Show, she was right there handing out ribbons or working at the gate,
enjoying all the beautiful horses.
We frequently teased
her about her clothes; she loved to dress up and had special outfits for
every event, including horse shows. They were always flashy but in the
best of taste; she was definitely a very classy lady, and she always
took care of herself and enjoyed good health.
A few years ago, all
of us were totally shocked when she was diagnosed with a stage 4
Ovarian-type cancer. She had seemed to be in such good health.
Immediate surgery and chemo followed. Despite hair loss and other
unpleasant side effects from her treatment, Eunice continued to embrace
life fully and all the things she loved, and she still managed to get up
to Madison for the horse fair. We were overjoyed when she had six
months of remission, but then the cancer became active again, and this
time the the tumors didn’t respond to the chemo.
In August, 2004,
Eunice decided to travel to Tucson to be with her daughter and to
explore the possibility of some new experimental chemo treatments at the
University of Arizona , but it was too late. In the next months, she
continued to lose ground in her fight against this silent killer.
On November sixth,
while I was at a board meeting for our horse organization, she
peacefully passed to the next stage in the “circle of life,” “Over the
Rainbow.” I knew she was ready to go, as we had spoken several times in
the days before she died, but I just couldn’t imagine life without her
and her wonderful friendship.
Now I want to share
with you “…the rest of the story.” On November 6, the day Eunice passed
on, my other dear friend, Carolyn, was in Las Vegas at a reunion with
her sisters-in-law. She had reluctantly joined them, as right now she
needs a lot of sleep, for health reasons, but they wanted her to come,
even if she couldn’t stay up all night with them.
Carolyn later told
me that she felt a strong compulsion all evening to return to the hotel
room, and she left the women earlier than she had expected. She didn’t
even remember getting ready for bed, just that she fell instantly and
deeply asleep, and had the most wonderful, yet puzzling dream.
You need to know
that Carolyn possesses a very highly developed “sixth sense.” Though
she lives in California , she often knows and feels our distress or
events here in Wisconsin before we do. I have learned to call her when
we are having bad times, as she is usually “feeling” them, but doesn’t
always know what is going on.
She reports that her
dream was absolutely perfect; it was of a person, whom she couldn’t see
very clearly, riding a beautiful white horse through the clouds. This
person was laughing, joyous, with a sense of freedom beyond the best
feelings Carolyn had ever experienced riding. The person and horse
raced and turned and played with the clouds.
Carolyn didn’t want
to wake up from this wonderful place, and was annoyed when the rest of
her group returned to the room and woke her. Also, she felt the dream
was important somehow, and strangely, though the person’s identity was
unclear, the name of the horse was very clear to her, though it meant
nothing to her, or so she thought. Throughout the next day, the dream
and its contents kept replaying in her head, and she kept trying to
figure out what it meant.
On Monday, as soon
as Carolyn returned home, she found my fax about Eunice’s passing and
was anxious to share her dream with me. Now she was certain the person
riding had to have been our dear friend, and the message must have been
for me. When we finally talked on Tuesday, Carolyn immediately related
her dream. I agreed with her; it must have been a last message from
Eunice. Then I said, “Well, what was the name of the horse?”
Carolyn replied, her
voice puzzled, “El Rachid, but I don’t recognize that name.”
As soon as she said
the name, I got shivers and then a wonderful, warm feeling through my
body. Now the message from my dear friend was unmistakable. You see,
El Rachid was the Arabian sire of our foundation Morab mare, Ta-ket
“Taco,” and I recognized the name immediately. We still have Taco, who
was 33-years-old this summer; the only horse of ours that Eunice ever
rode was Jericho’s Magic Lady, Taco’s daughter, El Rachid’s
Grand-daughter.
I rushed to get
Magic Lady’s papers to confirm the name and my memory, and discovered
still another amazing fact; Eunice died on November 6, 2004, and El
Rachid was born on November 6, 1967.
Now the message was
unmistakable, though I don’t understand how it all fits together, and it
confirmed my belief that through the “circle of life,” we will somehow
be re-connected with our beloved animal friends, as well as our human
family and friends, whenever we pass on “Over the Rainbow.” My sorrow
in the loss of my dear friend is, today, mixed with a warm feeling of
comfort, thanks to this miraculous final message from Eunice, who loved
horses and me.
(November, 2004) |
