Obituary of Sharon Christine Avery

Sharon Christine "Nicole" Avery died on Sunday, February 15, 2015 in Colorado Springs, Colorado at the age of 45. She died from complications of Huntington's Disease, on the 27th Anniversary of her father's death from the same disease. She was predeceased by her father, Ronald Edwin Avery. She is survived by her mother, Mary Anne (née Barnes) Avery McKinney Calkins; and her sister, Becky Darlene Avery, wife of Derek Christian Krehbiel. Sharon was born on November 3, 1969 on Ft. Bliss in El Paso, Texas. In her early childhood, her father was in the active Army Reserves then worked as a defense contractor, so she relocated often with her family. From the 6th grade through her teens she lived in Little Rock, Arkansas with her mother, sister and maternal grandparents, George and Josephine Hill. As a youth, Sharon loved ballet dancing and animals, particularly horses and dogs. She also caught the role-play gaming bug from her sister. She was an honor student at Little Rock Central High School, whence she graduated.In her early 20s, Sharon lived in Chicago with her sister for a few years. She worked a number of office and retail jobs, including administrative work at the University of Chicago and selling wine with Wine Shippers. She greatly enjoyed her circle of women friends, particularly Erin Ruel, who became the one friend who stayed by her through her entire illness and life. At her 21st birthday party, Sharon rekindled her childhood friendship with Robert Kirkpatrick of Little Rock, Arkansas and they wed, a marriage that lasted about 18 years. During this time, she lived in Chicago, Little Rock and Bend, Oregon for a short time. Upon Sharon's return to Arkansas from Oregon, she reclaimed her love and talent with animals and dedicated the most of her working life to animal training, working first with horses, then dogs. She traveled the South helping show horses, eventually became a nationally certified therapy dog trainer, and even trained other therapy dog trainers. She spent the last seven years of her life in Colorado with her mother, sister and brother-in-law, blessed by state of the art health care for her disease and the best of the outdoors and animals. She was surrounded by her family's dogs and loved riding Sailor, a grulla Quarter Horse, at Golden Eagles Therapeutic Riding ranch at the base of the Rockies in Monument, Colorado. Her grace and her gratitude throughout the course of her illness was not merely inspiring: it was humbling. As her family cared for her, she taught them how to be ever more caring. Sharon will be forever missed for her beauty within and without, her razor wit and her "elfen" sensitivity to people and things seen and unseen. From her scrapbook, in her hand, undated:"Dusk at early morning in tree-rimmed pasture we work. In circles, on a line.She at one end, I at the other. —Separate, yet the same —Quietly, she jingles The bit as she trots slowly around me.Her hooves beat a Steady staccato in the grass.Smiling, In anticipationof her thanks, I cluck twice and withSwish of tail and Snort of gratitude She changes — a gallop now.I feel the strengthof the faster gait in my arm as we work.Her nostrils flare with quieted breath.We work, In constant communication a silent language.Finally, with a movementof my wrist, and flick ofher ear, She halts and moves in to me.We hug, her head over my shoulder, my face in her neck. Our work is over. Celebration of Life, 2:00PM, Saturday, March 14, 2015, Bear Creek Nature Center, 245 Bear Creek Road, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Please RSVP to darlene.avery@comcast.net (for reception count).In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in memory of Sharon Avery to the ranch where she rode her last years, at minimal cost to her:Golden Eagles Therapeutic Riding Center3450 Hay Creek RoadColorado Springs, CO 80921Funeral Home:The Springs Funeral Services3115 East Platte AvenueColorado Springs, , COUS 80909 Events Service Saturday, March 14, 2015 2:00PM Bear Creek Nature Center 245 Bear Creek Road Colorado Springs, CO 80906 Phone: 719-328-1793