I had been pondering the question of whom I thought worthy of being named my “Out For Good” Hero for July, and then It happened - Micheal Jackson died. His untimely death affected me in far greater ways than I ever imagined it could. Now, many people might question my calling Micheal a hero, considering the turbulent nature of his later part of his life. But here’s the thing - he was found NOT GUILTY of any wrong-doing and, though he did settle with another child’s family out of court, in my heart I believe he did so in order to spare himself the thing he most dreaded - being placed under public condemnation. If I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Micheal was guilty, I would never consider him a hero, regardless of anything else he may have done, but I honestly think he was innocent. Sure, he made some very poor decisions, both having children sleep in his bed and holding his own baby over the hotel railing, among other things. Still, I believe he acted more like a child himself in these instances and never thought of hurting anyone, especially not the kids he held most dearly.

On the other hand, Micheal Jackson not only was the greatest entertainer of my era; he wrote and performed “important songs” which asked us to Save The World, ask the Man In The Mirror, and look beyond being BLACK Or White. In doing so he also gave more money to charities than any other entertainer in history, and personally toured AIDS ravaged villages in Africa as well as amputee wards in American military hospitals. Micheal Jackson’s inherent love for everyone and everything in the world far outweighed instances of his poor judgment or quirkiness depicted by his ongoing  need to change his appearance, a true sign that he found loving others far easier than loving himself.

So I choose to love Micheal Jackson as I always did and, moreover, look upon him as a hero and humanitarian who will be sorely missed, though his legendary music will go on for ever. One thing is for sure- there is far more beautiful music playing now than ever in heaven!

RD

I know you’ve been wondering where I’ve been with my July Update. I am so sorry but life just got away from me, as did my webmaster, Julian, whose vacation I totally forgot was taking place at the beginning of the month.

Anyway, June turned out to be another month full of ups and downs. All in all, while I would love to say the ups had it, I have to be honest and call it a draw.

I’ve been enjoying finishing the Grand Prix training of 3 young horses, 2 of which I have brought along myself for their owners from the beginning. All of them are absolutely lovely and have given me a great deal of joy to ride.

I also had a great time conducting a symposium in Cincinnati where I saw both terrific horses and riders and had a lot of fun with auditors as well. To top the weekend off Chris Federer, who organized the weekend, also put on a lovely benefit for the USEF High Performance Dressage Programs. Sweet!

I spent the week of the Festival Of Champions in Gladstone watching our National Championships and, along with our acting Chef d”Equipe, Jessica Ransehousen, held a critique clinic for interested, long-listed riders. We commented on their rides and discussed with them how they might earn more points as well as advising them on what they might want to consider as smart future competitive plans. As always, I tried to be up front, honest, and helpful, and I truly hope they felt I was.

Robert and I moved into our new condo in Miami Beach and spent a couple of weekends down there which, even without a lot of furniture, was great. The views of the bay and ocean are breath-taking and make me really happy. I am so blessed that even the fact that Joe Zada has yet to live up to any of his multitude of promises to pay us back our life savings, Robert and I are moving forward and recognizing we very well might never see it again. We instead have now spoken to the authorities and will leave the rest up to our Justice System and God to deal with.

The end of June has been a sad time for other reasons, primarily the deaths of several stars including Farrah Fawcett and Micheal Jackson. They both held a special spot in my heart but Micheal’s passing affected me much harder than I ever thought it would. His songs and incredible talent had dotted many milestones in my life and the world will never forget this genius, regardless of the turmoil in his later years.

The one good thing about being tardy with my update is that I can finish by saying how thrilled and proud I was by Steffen Peters and Ravel’s amazing Triple Crown Win in Aachen! They were nothing short of awesome and America owes them our heartfelt gratitude for a job gorgeously done!

To my readers, please remember to let me know what you are thinking about any and every little thing. I love to hear from you!

Cheers!

RD

Dear Rhonda, I recently took a job as a Personal Assistant for a high profile celebrity and am baffled by her lifestyle. For all the fabulous restaurants and shops I follow her around to she never once pulled out her platinum card -ever!

Apparently, the shop owners all feel obliged to comp her so as to ensure she will keep coming back. Well, she invariably gets liquored up to the point of no return, which puts her hours and yes, sometimes days late for her obligations to her business associates. Can you please shed some light for us mortals as to what is proper etiquette for those starlets like yourself who seem to play the game by a different set of rules?

Jealous P.A.

Dear Jealous,

The word that you seem to glaringly misunderstand from your own question is the word game. That is exactly what life is my dear. Your boss clearly understands this and knows exactly how to play it and you seem to be distressed (or shall I say bitter) by the fact that you don’t.

Now I am not condoning being drunk and rude, although they can work very well independently or in conjunction with other bad behaviors. What I am saying is that everything is relative. Now, I don’t know exactly who your boss is, but she obviously makes a lot of money for a lot of people. And I would imagine that a large part has to do with her persona. Whilst her behavior may seem unacceptable to you in the context of your world, she obviously delivers for the retailers, restaurateurs and business associates in hers.

Some people win at the game Monopoly after four or five or six long and boring hours of strategic and careful rule playing and others win in less than two by stacking FREE PARKING with tons of cash. Is either one less of a winner? I guess it depends on which rules you are playing by!

Regards,

Rhonda

Several weeks ago, Robert and I were walking home in South Miami Beach from Lincoln Road, the hotspot for restaurants, shops, and clubs, when two young obviously Orthodox Jewish boys stopped us and asked if either of us were Jewish. Though I wasn’t sure if I should respond, since there are a lot of somewhat “iffy characters” who often ask for money along that route, but I replied that indeed I was, at which point they asked if I might perform a Mitzvah, or Good Deed,  with them. Still a little unsure, I decided to go along with it and found myself having one boy wrapping a black leather strap many times around my right arm, while the other attached the Tefilin ( a small leather box attached to a strap which contains scriptures written on vellum) with a strap to my head. They then handed my a prayer book and asked me if I remembered how to read Hebrew. Just as I was about to say “No”, they began to recite a prayer which I recognized as the words seemed to jump off the page to my lips. And when we finished, one boy asked if I knew the Shamah which, not only did I know, but I recite at least once a day every day along with a prayer of thanks for all the miracles in my life.
When we were through, the boys thanked me for allowing them to do a Mitzvah with me and I replied that it was truly my pleasure. 

Reading From The Prayer Book While Wearing The Tefilin

My Mitzvah With Yossi

And that it was, for they really did not know how much joy those few moments brought me as I thought of my youth and my own Bar Mitzvah.
So guys, THANK YOU VERY MUCH and SHALOM!

RD

Robert Ross forwarded this video from our friend, Scot Evans, and I had to put it up.
You guys will love it!

Cheers!

RD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq6b9bMBXpg

I just have to gush a bit over my long-time friend, Bernadette (Bernie) Hewitt.  After a stellar career as a journalist covering international horse sport, she decided to go back to school.  Not just any school mind you - LAW SCHOOL!  Well, after years of hard work, I received the news today which Bernie is too humble to broadcast herself, and since humility, mine or anyone else’s, has never been an issue, I am hereby  printing for all the world to know that Bernadette Hewitt graduated with FIRST CLASS HONOURS in the top 3% of her class and is now a LAWYER!

Many Congratulations and I hope you are out celebrating!  I know I speak for everyone who knows and loves you that we are all very proud of you!  I only wish that you were practicing here in Florida, ’cause would I have a case for you!

Cheers!

RD

When I was a little girl I came to the conclusion if I was nice and sweet life would be kind to me. Well friends no more. Roberts Mom is now changing to a tough to fool senior citizen!Some years ago I was a real estate sales person for a large condominium on the ocean in Hallandale. The manager I found out after he was gone was not a straight shooter. He assigned the same first space parking spots to every new tenant. When they moved in  he was long gone. Folks who had been friends for life no longer spoke to each other. I had been working for him about two weeks when he walked up to me and said. ” You really ARE a nice person.” As if I was just putting on an act. Dealing with people these last few weeks has changed me forever. Today was the straw that broke the camels back. Carriage Hills where we live has an automatic gate opener for residents. 99 times out of 100 it opens no problem. Today I backed up 3 times with no luck. I honked me horn for the guard to open it. I opened my window an again asked him to please open it. He said, “try again”. ” I have tried 3 times I said please open the gate” Repeat the above. Finally I just said “open the gate” in a hateful voice. The gate opened. Yesterday the man who washes my car every two weeks came along with the thunder but I felt sorry for him so I said OK you can wash the car. Now,I pay him 20 dollars plus a 5 dollar tip. I found out he does the neighbors cars for 10 dollars. Our best friends needed to have their cars washed . They pay 15 Plus a tip. One drives a Lincoln and the other a Mercedes. I asked him why I pay 5 dollars more then they do and he answered. “Well I do many more things to your car then theirs.” Because I feel sorry for him and am a sweet person I continued to give him the 25. When I got in my car today I noticed the front window was never washed. The same smudges where still there. Wait until he comes back in two weeks. No nice guy will greet him.We had our ducts cleaned to rid them of dust from the dry wall that had been taken down. A clever sales man gave us a razzle dazzle conversation about how we lovely seniors deserved to live in a clean air enviorment, and he was going to provide it. He flicked open a ceiling vent I was not tall enough to see and said.” Oh dear it is covered with mold and mildew”. I panicked as that is what cause the three outside walls to be taken down and all our carpet to be ripped out. He said,” I will only charge you for 5 vents though you have 8.” He threw in many more freebies or so he said. Next he offered his GPS so we could find our way to a Home Depot to buy a clamp for the lint pipe connection which was supposed to be 39.00 but in his kindness to us he would clean free… I said.” That is OK I know the way. We returned in about 30 minutes and he was outside all done. We went back in so he could connect the clamp then sat down at the table for the invoice to be presented. He listed all the freebies on one side for his boss and that total was over a thousand dollars. But he was only charging us 633.00. The ad was for 29.99. He promised a two year guarantee. It wasn’t on the invoice. He said” Don’t worry. if anything goes wrong just call me and I will come right out.” I insisted on a guarantee. He promised it would be here in a week. The second straw is that when we went into our house I found the clamp still in the bag. Wait until he hears from me tomorrow. You will probably hear me yell where ever you live. NO MORE Sweet Me.                              Roberts Mom

 Dear Friends of Robert’s Mom. Last month I went to the Orthopedic Doctor I told him my right knee was hurting when I kneel down. He asked if I was Catholic. I laughed and said no. He said then don’t kneel. I said but I do Yoga and he answered don’t do that position. I said that is the most important one. Get a pad he said. Nothing I made worked. Here is the amazing part.    A maintenance Man fixing holes in the wall in the house we are renting while ours is being rid of mold and mildew, was wearing a special pads on his knees. He said when asked he bought them at Home Depot and they allow him to be on his knees all day with out pain. Off we went and sure enough they worked for me. I now go down on my knees with No pain. The reflux Dr. said I shouldn’t put my head flat for anything. You try standing on your shoulders with your head on a pillow. No way. I tried the pad and sure enough it worked. Today I  went to see what the pads were called. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The front in large  print said ROBERTS! Yesterday I read of a sure way to get rid of reflux. I bet many of you take pills for it. The article said to drink 1/2 of a fresh lemon squeezed into a glass of water to rid yourself of acid. Oh my goodness I can’t believe It worked. No bad feeling when I streach out flat with NO Pad! So all of you who suffer or know someone who does remember you are never to young or old to live and learn.                       Love Roberts Mo

For all of the wonderful things about the Pines in Fire Island, a tiny strip of land off the coast of Long Island, NY, the overwhelming thing that occurred to me as I flew home yesterday was that I, and everyone there, could completely and totally just be ourselves!
Yes, it is an absolutely gorgeous place with pristine beaches, no cars (only boardwalks), approximately 500 great beach homes, and a few shops, bars and restaurants.  But way more meaningful to many of us is that this community is just about totally gay, and the fact that we “own” the whole thing allows us to completely let down our guard which sadly, even in the most progressive cities and towns in America, we still must to some degree maintain.
Think about it.  If, as a straight person walking down any street in the world, you had to think twice before taking the hand of your boy or girlfriend (or spouse, for that matter), as doing so might endanger your well-being, wouldn’t it upset you, even a little?  Gay people generally have no more or less interest in public displays of affection than do straight people.  But Fire Island brings home, by the very greatness of the feelings of our freedom there, the enormous disparity which still exists in the world today.  And while I so appreciate the great steps which continue to be made toward bringing about true equality, for which I have faith the the Obama administration will vastly improve, I can’t help but wonder again how allowing any two people, gay or straight, to show their love for each-other, whether by holding hands or yes, marrying, could be viewed as anything but PERFECT!  No person on earth should ever be afraid of loving another and expressing that love, for that is exactly what we were put here to do.

Cheers!

RD