Monday, July 17, 2006

I picked a Winner!



Anyone who has ever spent time at a racetrack knows that Thoroughbreds are horses built for speed - their light frames and long elegant limbs, just a part of the evidence. Horse people also know them for their sensitive and spirited natures, and those of us lucky to have known a good one will tell you that we also love them for their big hearts and willing dispositions.

If Bobby were a Thoroughbred, his name would be Here Comes Trouble.

On Sunday he ran the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation race for the Seattle Genetics team. Now, maybe this race was a dropdown for him, but he didn't sulk, in spite of the fact that he led the field by a minute at the end.

If Bobby were a Thoroughbred, he'd be a 5 year old - too old for the Derby, still young enough to love speed as much as any 3 year old, still too young to safely be called bomb-proof. He may even be a little green still, but he has the kind of big brown eyes that would make a person call a good horse an old soul. Some horses are charmers, and Bobby would be one of those. You'd have to watch your ginger snaps.

If Bobby were a middle school heart-throb, he'd be a friendlier Ryan, messy brown hair and all, and his partner in crime at the coffee shop, Andy, would be a pretty 8th-grade Pete. They'd rule the school, without ever making you feel like maybe they knew it just a little too well.

If Bobby were a summer song, he wouldn't be the song you played at sunset. He might be the song the Mountain Dew people wished they had thought of for that commercial where every face has the bloom of youth and everyone is jumping off a wooden dock in to a warm summer lake with all the exuberance their perfect bodies can muster. Or maybe he would be the song you pick to start a long road trip, the one that takes you through city after city of people you can't wait to see.

Several times a week, he's the first person I smile at all day, and that gives a guy a special place in my heart. Then, when he raced and won on our behalf? Well... then I knew he deserved a love letter on the blog.

He topped it all off when he bought my latte today. He didn't have to do that. But that's a Thoroughbred for you.

3 comments:

K said...

um, are you quitting so that you won't break your own rule?

LadyGripe said...

So cute! It's too bad I hate people who run. I tried to run over the weekend and it was pathetic. I'm still sore. And fat.

Anonymous said...

So creative! Maybe next time I can get the laurel wreath. Thank you for the ode to Bobby