When you are friends with anyone for 40 years, it says that you had a very special relationship. He is one very special person… sweet, self-effacing, funny, conservative – yet has taken many chances with my horses and theater ventures. All-in-all, a pleasure to be around, to travel with, to have as a friend, acquaintance or colleague.

You have heard about this friend many times before because our friendship is so close and his health so precarious. After almost five months in ICU — since his heart attack and double by-pass surgery — the end seems near. Don has been like a cat with nine lives. So, it is hard to accept the fact that he will lose this fight. Despite the odds, I ask you to say a prayer for Gidon Stern (Gidon ben Ruth). The world needs more people like him, so pray for a miracle recovery… and if the Lord needs him more than we do, pray for a peaceful journey to heaven where he will surely reside.

Say another prayer for Barbara, his wife of 42 years who has worked every day to keep him alive… and for his sons, Jeremy and Gabriel and their beautiful children who need their grandfather and who will also miss him terribly.

I know you asked to get these missives for horsie news. Please allow me this departure because of my love for these very special friends. I guarantee that if you knew them, you would feel the same way.

Hope you are all powered up at home and at work. Please use your power of prayer to demand, beseech and plead for this special family.

Thank you!

A.