Heart-breaking news….

…from our dear friends in New Zealand, Ken and Prue McDowall.  Ken is the famous Rotokawa breeder.  But just a few minutes ago he called with the news that he and Prue had lost their daughter, a young woman, talented artist and sculptor with a brilliant future.

What do you say to the McDowalls…what can you think?  What a terrible agony they are going through.

Wooz and I owe so much to this absolutely lovely couple….the most decent people you could ever know in this world.  They have been key in the development of Thistle Hill…the impact of Rotokawa is everywhere.  But that pales in comparison to the impact of their friendship on our personal lives.  We’ve shared more than a few bottles of wine….more than a few moments of great fun here at home and traveling together in the United States and England.

We know many Devon breeders who read this blog also know Ken.  I felt you would want to know this and share in the McDowalls’ grief.

This news was all the more poignant coming as it did within hours of a joyous email from another good friend, John Forelle.  John is a partner in our English Devon venture but more than that we have also shared wonderful times together.  Today he emailed that his son, Luke, a Marine lieutenant is back safely from Afghanistan where he was a platoon leader (it doesn’t get any more dangerous than that) and is now vacationing in Hawaii.

We frankly don’t know how to process all this emotional news.  What the Forelles have gone through worrying about Luke and then the release that came with one phone call.  Do you have any idea what our military families are going through?  And then….dashed down by the call from New Zealand.

Not a day we will soon forget.