Oh, Give me land,
lots of land
They ride the horses back to the barn. Julie touches Ralph one more time between the eyes. It's almost 3 a.m. She looks at her mom, her mom looks at her. They throw some clothes in the pickup and head for Kentucky. Dreamers. Maybe that's all Judi Krone and her daughter ever were, dreamers. A mom and a little girl who could sit on the back of a horse and gaze at the moon till they lost their senses. Is there anything wrong with that? Maybe there is; Judi Krone's not even sure anymore. You shoppers who scolded her for letting her baby stand in the grocery cart and yank things off the shelves; you neighbors who complained that she let her little girl run wild; you parents who warn your children not to put all their eggs in one basket; you mothers of mediocrity and fathers of the 50th percentile, tell her, did she do it all wrong? Maybe she did. Maybe she should have taught her daughter about fences. Judi Krone is 48 now, and her hair has come back a different color than it was before the chemotherapy. Oh yeah, sure, the bellyful of cancer that was supposed to kill her three years ago seems to be in remission (it's been a year since she has screwed up the courage to go back to the doctor and find out), but sometimes when she looks up these days, all she sees around her are fences. Maybe she should have made her daughter wear shoes and shirts, maybe she should have told her she couldn't ride her horse a half-mile, alone—at age three. You tell her; she's not sure. All those bitter times her family has been through because they didn't believe in fences...and all those sweet times when she's watched that little bit of a girl bring a 1,200-pound animal down the stretch, whipping it through a hole that's barely a hole, shooting black sparks of mud back into the eyes of all the men and horses pursuing her. All those nights when Judi Krone sat in her camper in central Florida and heard people like David Letterman and Johnny Carson say, "...the first woman ever to win five races in one day at a New York track, the first woman ever to win a riding title at a major track, one of three American jockeys ever to win six races on one card, the fourth-leading jockey in the country in 1988, the best female rider in history, with $20 million in purses won and more than 1,200 trips to the winner's circle, all by the age of 25.... Here she is, Julie Krone!"
Mom— Mom I feel so alone right now. Everyone is so nice and loves me so but it stops at a certain point. Like I would want to go upstairs right now and crawl in Donna's arms but she would think I was being childish. I mean she wouldn't tell me but that low op ion would be there. Oh god I want to be home! P.S. I need to buy some winter close. I need pimple stuff from doctor Wilson. I need my pillow. I need my red coat. And I need you!
Oh mommie I miss
you everyone and home. But I don't want to come home. I'm so confused. "Oh, yes, it was worth it," says her father, Don Krone. Of course, Don is a dreamer too. "All the hurt and everything that happened when she was growing up, all that Julie must have gone through to make it, alone, in that world, all of it was worth it for what it created. Look at her—I can't do it without smiling. Watching her ride a racehorse is about the most exhilarating thing in the world."   |
Stories
|
|||
|
|
PRINT
EMAIL
MOST POPULAR
SHARE
 |
Copyright © 2008 Time Inc. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines.
|
 |