Robert Frost,Jerome Beauchamp, Friendship and Happiness

"Courage is the human virtue that counts most — courage to act on limited knowledge and insufficient evidence. That's all any of us have."
– Robert Frost

 

I am pleased to announce that Jerome Beauchamp is my next guest on “It Has  Nothing  To Do With  Age or Gender.” I first met Jerome in the late 1990s at the Quicksilver Ride and Tie in San Jose, California. Jerome and his older brother Robert were competing in their first ride and tie. Jerome  was in his late 30s , and Robert in his early 40s. Jerome was an excellent  runner and a rider while Robert was the  superior runner. I think my partner, at the time, was  my friend Bob Edwards.

At some point, after the vet check , I caught up to Jerome and his horse. As it turned out, the horse lost one of its  shoes. I start talking with Jerome and advised him not to ride that horse with three shoes. If he did ride  the horse, he would likely lame the horse. Unfortunately, I didn’t have an Easy Boot to loan him. This meant that Robert had to  run and did run the entire distance of the race. Jerome  never caught Robert.

With that race, started our friendship. At this time I was living in the Bay Area, while Jerome was living near Auburn. One thing led to another and I shortly moved to the foothills as well. Over the years, I have partied with Jerome and his family and watched his kids  develop. Jerome has been my ride and tie partner in a number of events. There was one  World Championship   when we partnered up with one of Bob Edwards horses named Judy.  Jerome referred to that ride as “the ride from hell.”  Find out about that memorable ride and tie experience by watching our  show or learn about it in my book.

Jerome was  also  my final pacer in 2002 when I ran the Western States 100. Not only that, he was an important crew member when I rode the Tevis in 2000. He has been there for me. I know you’ll enjoy his story.

A couple of facts found in the September 13, 2013 edition of the Wall Street Journal include the following: 1. Those individuals 65 and over rated their lives happier than  all other Americans.2. People, between 50 and 64 rated themselves the most unfavorably.  3. People with advanced degrees rated themselves happier than those with high school diplomas. 4. Households making $ 75,000 a year or more rated themselves happier than those households making less than $ 30,000 a year.

If you believe the survey, get older, get a degree and make more money and you will find happiness. Once again, correlations(a statistical procedure) do not measure cause-and-effect. As you know or don’t know there’s more to the story regarding happiness. In any event, keep moving ,smiling and deep breathing.