05/11/2026
This horse mama reminds me a lot of my own. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CXfjrT8C8/
For those of you who have followed Sunshine Specialties through the years, you know the steady, enduring, unmistakable presence of my mother where she says she prefers to be: "behind the scenes."
But really, she isn't behind the scenes. She is the flowers you see, the friendly voice on the phone, a designer AND hard-working creator of our new space, the "picker-upper-behind-everybody", and a million other things that good moms are made of. So the next time you see Donna at Sunshine Specialties, be sure to give her a thumbs up, a smile, a hug, or even a high five in celebration of her part in this 33-year journey thus far of serving up herbal health and wellness! And be sure to stay tuned... we are unveiling our newest service addition later this month!
Happy Mothers Day!
She was never the fastest horse in the field. No garlands draped her neck. No grandstand ever shook for her. But Somethingroyal didn't need the spotlight — because she was quietly building something the world had never seen before.
And you'll never look at greatness the same way again once you understand what she actually gave us.
She carried royal blood — daughter of the legendary Princequillo, a mare steeped in champion lineage. But here's what history doesn't say loudly enough: her destiny wasn't to *be* the legend. It was to *birth* one.
Can you even imagine the quiet weight of that?
In 1970, under the still Virginia sky at Meadow Farm, Somethingroyal delivered her thirteenth foal. A big chestnut c**t. Legs like stilts. A blazing stripe down his face. And something in his eyes that made you pause — something wild and certain at the same time.
He was awkward. Too big. Too bold. Too much of everything.
But she stood over him gently — patient, knowing — like a mother who already understood what the rest of the world would take years to see.
They named him Secretariat.
From the quiet paddocks of Meadow Farm to the thunderous roar of Belmont Park — she watched every stride. From a wobbly foal nipping at her tail to a stallion rewriting the record books. She watched him become the athlete that stopped time. And she passed something to him in every stride he ever took — her power, her grace, her unshakeable pride.
She didn't need a trophy. She had *him*.
He shattered records. He crushed Triple Crown history. He didn't just run — he *flew*, in a way no horse before or since has ever matched. And behind every moment of that glory stood a mare the cameras never followed.
Somethingroyal lived to see him crowned.
She lived to see the entire world fall in love with her son.
In her later years, she remained the quiet empress of Meadow Farm — the matriarch no one put on a poster, the mother no one quite celebrated enough. When she passed in 1988 at the age of 31, she left behind more than a legacy of foals.
She left behind *proof* that sometimes the greatest thing you can do in this life is pour everything you are into someone else's greatness.
Not every legend wears the crown. Some of them *make* it.
Who in your life deserves to be seen the way Somethingroyal deserved to be seen? Share this and let someone know they matter.
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