Dear Editor,

            After spending all of my childhood and most of my adult life in and around the Tennessee Walking Horse business, I have often found myself wondering if there would be any reward other than the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat. The ”Horse” business, as we all know who have tried to make a business work, can be hard.

            However, after all these years my reward came when my son, William, on December 26th was diagnosed with an extremely rare and aggressive brain cancer. Incredibly, the horse community surrounded my family and we received hundreds of cards and phone calls encouraging our family and most of all William to keep his chin up and go forward. The Trainer’s Youth Council, led by Jill Derickson and Karla Landrum and I’m sure many others, started fundraisers to assist my family with the enormous expenses associated with this type of illness. Sandra Dubose of Vernon also found a way to help in a fundraiser at the Vernon Horse Show for our family. At William’s death we received call after call from our peers, trainers, and owners offering their condolences.

            Never before have I been so touched by any group of people. On behalf of William, Thad, Winston, Alex, Mary Frances, Bentley and me, I would like to thank the many people who gave of their time and money to help William and our family through this struggle.

            William never faltered, whined or complained, but looked to the next day to finish his treatment and go on with life, How ever, five days before he was to be released from the hospital “cancer free” he contracted an infection that claimed his life 12 hours later. Again, it is impossible to express the heart-felt gratitude for all the support and love extended during this time. We loved William Way.

Thank you,

Jack Way