Tomorrow night, we will celebrate Cash's 65th birthday with a huge party at the barn. I hope our many friends will join us.
It strikes me that most of the folks riding at Cash Lovell Stables today don't know the man behind the name. And for others who only met him in the last 6 to 10 years, you don't really know Cash either. The disease that recently robbed his brain of the ability to speak clearly also, in recent years, stole much more from him. Those of us close to him knew he was changing before our eyes. But we didn't know why.
Now we do. Cash has been diagnosed by experts at UNC with a rare and crippling form of dementia called Frontotemporal Dementia. Over the last decade, this disease stole the love of my life, my baby's Daddy, and one of the finest horsemen our industry has known. But it hasn't stolen his love of people, especially babies. And it hasn't stolen his trademark laugh.
Please come and enjoy the magic of Cash's laughter.
Let's also celebrate Jeanine Lovell, my sister-in-law. After 30 years of teaching school, she has retired to focus on her true love: teaching horseback riding.
Jeanine is the woman all women aspire to be. Beautiful, elegant, classy. The fantastic mother of three gorgeous, accomplished daughters. A standout among her teaching peers for her selfless determination to teach children, many of whom were considered "throw aways." Jeanine wrapped
those babies with love and applied pressure like no one ever had. And her students soared -- so much so that her teaching ability became legend in Forsyth County. Administrators and parents alike sought her.
All the while, she and Tommy raised their three gorgeous baby girls and worked their own string of show horses. Until last month, Jeanine taught riding lessons in her "spare time." Through the years, while the broader world recognized her as a phenomenal school teacher, she proved to be a horsewoman. A heck of a horsewoman. The list of National Champion riders she's coached to the top is long. And you watch and see what she will do now that teaching riding 
lessons is no longer her "sideline" job!
I remember Cash telling me, a long time ago, "Jeanine will be a great riding instructor. She loves it. You gotta love it. And ain't nobody ever loved it like she does."
Cash's good ol' boy grammar aside, he was spot on.
Please join us as we celebrate both of these amazing people - a horseman and a horsewoman. I'm so proud to say that I share their name. See you from 6:00 to 9:00 pm, at the barn Saturday. Bring your babies and your dancing shoes!
