I don’t know what I was expecting last Saturday morning, but a crowd of over 1,300 people walking the grounds at Keeneland exceeded both my own and the organizers’ expectations by about 800 walkers.

I was, of course, participating in the “Step Out” walk to stop diabetes along with my 3-year-old grandson, Tyler Kane Ochs and 15 members of his family and his friends. Not only was the crowd huge, but the weather, though much cooler than normal, was perfect. I had to wear a jacket over my “Team TKO” T-shirt, but I hobbled and wobbled over the mile-long course without falling down or even stopping to rest.

A representative from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) who has been attending these walks, all over the nation, for years said that the Bluegrass Walk was easily the largest turnout she had ever seen.

I suspect the crowd was even larger than announced, because over 1,300 walkers actually registered in and a lot of people were not bothering to do that.

On behalf of Tyler and the rest of Team TKO, I want to extend a heartfelt Thank You to my readers who made donations to our cause! In fact, donations to ADA are still coming in the mail to my home address so I don’t yet know how what Team TKO’s total contribution amounts to but I believe we have reached our goal of$1,500 in donations to help fight diabetes .

When we left the grounds around 10 a.m., more than $200,000 had already been turned in. When all is said and done, it is safe to predict that the Bluegrass “Step-Out” walk will have generated over a quarter million dollars to help find a cure and provide services to victims of this terrible disease.

If you made a donation to ADA through Team TKO, you know who you are so please also know that Tyler and I are oh so grateful for your generosity.

In other news, I have been getting tons of email, snail mail, phone calls and queries to both Loretta and me on the street as to how my stroke recovery is coming along. And the answer is; not nearly as well as I’d like.

I am not a patient person, but I am having some complications that seem to be getting worse instead of better. Lots of pain, especially in the morning, in every joint from my shoulder to my fingers as well as inadequate blood circulation that is causing lots of swelling. My left hand is nearly twice as large as my right hand. It is difficult to determine how much of this to attribute to the stroke or to Parkinson’s disease or to arthritis or to diabetes or a combination of all five.

I still have scant control of my left arm and hand. I can’t type with my left hand or make it go where I want it to, but that seems to be improving, however slowly.

My best buddy, Ralph King, brought his big Cub Cadet, rear-tine tiller out three weeks ago and fixed me a 3,000 square feet garden. My good friend, Jack Gadd, sent me two huge bales of straw mulch. Ralph also bought me an amazing tool that is sort of like a scuffle hoe that I can use to fight morning glories one handed, so I start the day and close it down in my garden. It is the best therapy I do.

I have 300 row feet of bodacious sweet corn up and growing along with 120 feet of beans. I also have three kinds of squash, nine varieties (40 plants) of tomatoes, okra, cucumbers, bell and banana peppers, Ichiban eggplant and a dozen different herbs to look after. I may be slow but I sure stay busy and gardening keeps my mind off all the damned health problems. I may be badly bent, but I’m still not broke.