Is this a dream?
So, in case you haven’t heard the exciting news, Meryl Streep has signed on to play Hildy in the film version of The Good House! Robert DeNiro is Frank! Here’s a link to one of the reports from yesterday when the deal was announced:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/robert-de-niro-meryl-streep-reteam-and-move-into-the-good-house-20130806
I have known for a while but didn’t want to say anything until it was announced by the producer, Jane Rosenthal of TriBeCa Productions and FilmNation. This is just so exciting and yes, I have met Meryl! Yes, she’s beautiful and down-to-earth and smart and funny. And she really “gets” Hildy.
What a week it has been. And it’s only Wednesday.
Yesterday, I took Zidane out for a ride on the trails behind my house and really had a good cry there. Mark and I had ridden those trails together so many times. It was a beautiful afternoon, there was a cool breeze and the breeze reminded me of autumn, which I love. It was bittersweet. I have so many blessings, one of them is the horse that I was riding yesterday. He walked quietly along, though I’m sure he thought I’d become completely unhinged. Thank you all, again, for all the kind comments. I really have never been this sad about the loss of an animal and we have had many animals, and of course, many have died. It’s always sad, but in the past, I think part of the sadness has been the knowledge that with the passing of the pet, is the passing of a time in our family’s history. When I look at old photos, I can often date them by the dog in the photo. I’ll see a photo of a Christmas tree with Daphne playing in front of it as a pup and know what Christmas it was. If Lulu’s in the photo, I know it was after 2008. I’m not sure what I’m trying to say here, except that when Mark died, it wasn’t like any of the other animals. I miss that horse, not just because he represents an era in my life that is now over, or because he was so much fun to ride. Those things are true, but he was such a character, so larger than life, that I just really miss him because I loved him so much.
As many of you know, I can’t remember a time in my childhood when I didn’t long for a horse. I had so many imaginary ponies and horses when I was a child and when Denis bought me my first horse, years ago, it was a dream come true. Often, when you wish for something for so long, the reality doesn’t live up to your fantasies. Gabriel, my first horse, was and is amazing, but Mark was the horse I wanted all my life. He not only lived up to my fantasies of what it would be like to own a horse, he was better than my fantasies. Well, he was the real deal. Yesterday, I was talking to somebody who knew him. A lot of people knew him because we did so much together – fox hunting, hunter-pacing, various attempts at showing in different riding disciplines and of course lots of trail riding at Steep Rock. This person said to me, “He wasn’t a perfect horse, but he was the perfect horse for you.” And he was.
Wait, this was supposed to be about the exciting film announcement! Here’s a little happy dance in celebration of that:
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