A great person, and friend of the clinic, received a special gift from a long time friend. Well worth reading her story below!Imagine the surprise when a retired army buddy, my sister in Florida, and the folks at the West Milton Veterinary Clinic conspired to surprise me with a quilt containing all my cats’ names, past and present. I’ve had more than 35 cats!
It all started when I sent my veterinarian’s website to my sister, and my friend Kate, to show what good vet service I have. Kate is a retired lieutenant colonel and does quilting along with raising goats, chickens, turkeys, dogs, cats, a turtle, an emu….you get the picture. She is a fabulous quilter and sends me pictures of her work that I forward to my sister. My sister found her on Facebook and they conspired with my veterinarian, Paige Theuring, to get my cats’ names. I was recuperating from spinal surgery when I walked into the vet’s office with a cat, only to be surprised with a quilt and Kate on the speaker phone laughing. Kate and I go back to the summer of 1977 when we found ourselves in the last direct commission WAC officer basic course at Ft. McClellan, Alabama. Out of college we decided to join the military. What were we thinking!? After 11 weeks at Ft. McClellan, the WACs were disbanded and all of us 120+ spanking new lieutenants were sent off to different branches of the army. Four of us drove in two cars to Ft. Huachuca, Arizona for military intelligence school. Along the way in the middle of Texas I stopped for gas and Kate and the three other gals got something to eat. I thought they had gone ahead of me, but they were behind me. Ended up I left Kate stranded with them with no toothbrush because I had her belongings in my car. I don’t think I’ll ever hear the end of that story. After several months in Arizona, Kate and I both were sent to Ft. Devens, Massachusetts, for more schooling, mainly because the regular army didn’t know what to do with female officers since the WACs were no more. We both were supposed to end up at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. Okay. Kate’s from New York and I’m from Ohio so we didn’t join the army to see Kentucky. We lobbied our assignment officer in Washington, D.C. for overseas. Kate got South Korea. I was offered Okinawa, but held out for German. Guess who went to Ft. Campbell and then on to Ft. Knox, KY? Tired of Kentucky I went into the reserves and then the State Department while Kate went from South Korea to Germany, Panama, Ft. Meade, Maryland, the First Gulf War and back to Ft. Huachuca. I spent the First Gulf War sending Kate and another female army buddy care packages. Finally, I moved back to Ohio and bought a farm, while Kate retired and bought a ranch in Arizona. We e-mail a lot about our “critters.” I raise chickens for eggs; she raises Nigerian dwarf goats to make cheese. We love our pets, and I love the quilt surprise! Thank you Kate, and thank you West Milton Veterinary Clinic for taking care of my many cats over the years. Virginia |
We are now proud affiliates with Sinclair Community College providing training and practical experience for their Veterinary Technology program.
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