One last gift
My father must have been having a midlife crisis. Many middle-aged men buy fast cars or motorcycles. My dad bought an off-the-track Thoroughbred gelding named Shampagne-on-Ice.
Dad was the kind of person who grabbed life by the horns. He never did anything halfway. When my younger brother took up soccer, Dad, not content to sit on the sidelines, took classes to become a referee. When Dad decided to learn to ski, he bypassed the local mountain in favor of a trip to Vermont for a “stay and learn” weekend. He returned home with a love of his new sport that he passed on to my brother and me.
After we both
