Sandra's Sunshine

The first time that I heard the name Zenyatta was from a coworker – it wasn’t the album. I had seen The Police in concert when I was in college, but I was more a Doobie Brothers fan. Sting alone is another story – I like his style. Back on task, the coworker told me to watch a horse out of Hollywood Park in California called Zenyatta race because she was going to be “the one to watch”. So I began to watch her races on TVG and HRTV. This was also about the time that I discovered TVG and HRTV on cable, which gave me great enjoyment on the weekends – it just made housework and laundry a lot more enjoyable. It was in 2008 when she won the Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park when I realized that she was no ordinary contender. I’ve never seen a horse run dead last – at a distance, mind you – and make the move in the last turn to win the race down the stretch. She came thundering down the stretch like a freight train hauling the mail. My heart was pounding so hard just watching he...

As many of you have seen in the news the last few days and by Facebook posts, my hometown of Olive Hill, Kentucky was devastated by flood waters on Sunday, May 3, 2010. My father works for the city as their maintenance manager and is out on calls many days and nights insuring the restoration of service, but nothing could have prepared him for Sunday, May 3rd. The worst flood since the 1930's, the waters were over 5 feet high in the downtown area. Churches, businesses, and homes are a total loss in the community. Many of the town's elderly population will be starting over and that is a hard reality to fathom. It is going to take years for the town to build back what they have lost, but the one thing not lost on this horrible tragedy is the spirit of the people. Many of the "kids" have moved away and have parents still living in Olive Hill. Without telephone and limited cell phone service, it has been difficult to stay in touch with family and friends back home ove...

My friend Sherry and I took off a week in 1999 to meet our friends Kat and Dale at Leitchfield Beach, South Carolina. I had laproscopic surgery the week prior and I REALLY needed some R&R. We stayed in this beautiful beach house with a screened in porch with rocking chairs, a boardwalk to the beach, lots of blue skies, and one vast ocean. Every vacation has got to involve something historical and this trip was no exception. Sherry and I visited Brookgreen Gardens -- lots of sculpture and the grounds were perfectly landscaped and this is where I found the beauty of azaleas and rhododendrons. They now adorn our landscaping at home. After a couple hours of touring, Sherry and I decide to stop off at the "Old Kitchen" for some tea for her and a big honkin' Diet Coke for me. Sherry gets her tea and goes back to sit down at a open air table outside the kitchen. I finally make my way to the table and start to sit down and plop, plop, plop.......this clear, warm s...

I found this e-mail sent in January 2008 to my "Family, Friends, and Outlaws"...Enjoy! Dear Family, Friends, and Outlaws, Well......it's been quite some time since I've written a note, but what happened to me this morning was most definitely "story worthy". I take great pride in my job and this includes projecting a professional appearance at all times. Today, several coworkers from different Cardinal Hill centers across the state were coming to a training class that I was conducting on our database development. This included our legal counsel and several director level coworkers. This was the day for me to be "sharp"! I began my day by putting in my "eyes" (contact lenses), brushing my teeth, and hopping into the shower. Upon exiting the shower, I decide it's best if I floss my teeth since I've spent a fortune on them the last three years and it is just good dental hygiene. I am one of those dental patients who brushes, t...

Every Event Under Heaven Submitted by: Sandra Harris Frey Written 8/4/2008 A few weeks ago, my parents called me with some devastating news. The home place of my paternal grandparents had burned to the ground. The family was devastated and saddened by this news. My grandparents lived there for about 60 years and there were so many wonderful times shared there. The house was on a beautiful dairy farm and was serenity at its best. There were no street lights, no traffic. The vegetable garden was bountiful, the milk fresh each day, and “Mamaw” knew how to cook. There was a clothesline where the laundry was hung. The sheets on the bed after a wash smelled country fresh and is something that I haven’t experienced since I was a little girl. “Papaw” tried his best to teach me how to drive a tractor, which was great fun. As a game, I hit every cow pile in the field causing a really big “stink”. “Mamaw” could hear our laughter all the way to the house. Those memories will forever...

Submitted by: Sandra Harris Frey One of my favorite things is watching for the mailman on Saturday in anticipation of his delivering my People magazine. It’s even sweeter when it arrives on Friday! My routine is to study the cover for a few minutes and immediately turn to the weekly crossword puzzle to complete. There is no reading until the crossword puzzle is finished. It is a routine that I have practiced for many years. After the crossword puzzle was finished this week, I sat down to read a great article about a man named Alferd Williams from Missouri. He was the son of a sharecropper and worked very hard from the time he was a young boy. There wasn’t time for school, only work. The article was about his new experience of beginning first grade at age 70 because he wanted to learn to read and to keep a family promise. It talked about his day and the encouragement he received from his six year old classmates. What an inspiration Alferd Williams was for me this week and ever...