2001 The Year In Review

2001 - A Birthday Gift

I turned 50 years old in the year 2000 and decided the best gift I could give myself was a year to do what I wanted to do, with a new attitude. The work that I do is also my life's passion, so this "gift" did not mean a year off from photographing horses, covering shows, and developing the websites. But it did mean making some major changes from the past 25 years of the constant travel, too many horse shows, too many photos to organize and always too little time.

My husband and partner James Jay Hathaway (JJ. To all who know him) reached the same 50-year-old milestone too. In 1996 he took an early retirement from a lifetime career in law enforcement to join me in the life and business I had crafted over the years. Before we met, his biggest travel plans were his annual hunting trip from Florida to Wisconsin. Since then we have crisscrossed America each year in our truck and camper, putting over 50,000 miles a year on our wheels. He has become the master traveler in Europe, knowing his way around Holland and Germany better than most people who live there.

On our first trip together to Badminton, England in 1991, I marveled at his patience and ability to figure his way out of the continuous "roundabouts" that could baffle a lesser man. "It's just like finding your way around the woods," he said. "North, south, east and west are the same in every country." I knew on that trip with I had finally found the right man for me.

But the hard work, takes it's toll. I have become used to a life of constant back pain and aching feet from all day horse shows and carrying heavy cameras and big lenses around. JJ had two shoulder surgeries to relieve his pain. When his normally good nature and high level of tolerance becomes strained, I know we are pushing too hard. So my "gift" to myself - take a break in the year 2001, was also a great gift to him.