Reprint of The Fresno Bee By Rory Appleton on October 10, 2014

When Karon Penny learned in August that her best friend of over 40 years, Jeralynn Stout of Fresno, would be moving into hospice care with a terminal cancer diagnosis, she wanted to give her one final make-a-wish moment. Penny asked her longtime travel companion to pick anywhere in the world she wanted to go, fully expecting the two would set out on another cruise to Mexico. Stout’s answer was something different entirely — she wanted to meet California Chrome.

It was back in May that Stout — with her health deteriorating after deciding against continuing chemotherapy in her three-year battle with leukemia — watched an unheralded colt from Coalinga shock the world by winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, the first two events of horse racing’s Triple Crown.

“To think that that horse came from where it did and went where it did is just incredible,” Stout said. “When I saw him run in the Derby and the Preakness — and when I saw the owners, who cracked me up — I have to meet that horse if it’s the last thing I do before I die.”

Within a few weeks, Stout, Penny and Penny’s mother and aunt were on the road to Los Alamitos Race Course in Southern California for a full day with the California Chrome team. On Aug. 15, Stout and company hit the track at 5 a.m. to meet the horse’s owners and training team and watch him run some practice laps.

“They really gave us the royal treatment,” Penny said. “My mother and aunt are in their 80s — and Jeralynn was obviously unwell — but they had a three-row golf cart ready to drive us around. We really had so much fun.”

Sherman reflected on meeting Stout and company near the horse’s stables. “We really don’t do this type of thing often,” he said. “It has to be a special case. She had a story about her — with her illness and all — and she made the trip all the way down here. It made her awful happy.”

Stout said she was grateful for the wonderful experience. “They set this day up for me that was absolutely incredible. I couldn’t have dreamed of anything more beautiful.”

Stout also got to share a few private moments with the thoroughbred, which is training for the Nov. 1 Breeder’s Cup race.

“I had a conversation with California Chrome that day,” Stout said. “I told him he had to win the Breeder’s Cup because it’s a very important race to everyone around him. He stared me in the eyes with his ears perked up, and I swear to God he understood. I’ve been around a lot of horses — and they’re all smart — but he understood me. I don’t know how anyone could feel any better than I did at that moment.”

Stout’s love of horses began in junior high when she started taking horseback-riding lessons at Troy’s Stables in Fresno. “I actually did barrel racing, cow cutting and a lot of work in the circle all through high school.”

Stout also gave much of her time to the community through volunteer hours and pro-bono public relations work. She was honored Tuesday by the Fresno Police Department for her three years of service with Citizens on Patrol, a volunteer branch. Stout created a public service announcement video asking for volunteers, who each have to complete a rigorous 12-week training course in order to serve alongside officers.

Penny believes her friend’s story serves as a reminder of the strength of hospice patients. “It isn’t just children who want to make a wish,” she said. “Just because someone is on hospice doesn’t mean they are sentenced to a life in bed. They can still go do something. They can have an enjoyable quality of life.”