A Fond Farewell

Tonight we're going to celebrate Holly and, soon, send her off to a new adventure. Holly, a pretty girl with a veritable mane of the darkest brown hair you'd swear it is jet black, is 38.

Holly is a self-professed education junkie. She has a master's degree in education and a JD (juris doctor, as in law degree). She practiced law for a little while, but decided she didn't like the battles or the business. So she went to work for her law school, first as the continuing legal education director, then as its alumni relations director.

But for the past few years, Holly came to realize that her true passion and calling wasn't necessarily helping students, or her attorney colleagues, but rather those without a voice. Animals. She wanted to become a veterinarian.

I met Holly about 25 years ago, when she was a pert, charming girl with a little caramel colored Morgan horse named "Carmie." Holly and Carmie were a great pair and together they learned about riding across jumps and across country, and in a Morgan Horse youth drill team called the "New York Juniors." They traveled with their drill team all the way to Oklahoma to perform in the annual Morgan Horse national championships in the early 1980's.

Holly is still traveling down that road she began to travel with Carmie so many years ago. So tonight, we'll raise a toast to Holly and prepare to send her off on her next academic trail - to vet school in St. Kitts. There, for the next 2+ years, she will complete her required education in a more compressed time-frame than afforded by domestic vet schools in the U.S. Then, thankfully, she will return to us ready to care more fully for our creatures.

I admire Holly's dedication to learning, and I admire her caring for our beloved creatures, and I admire her spirit. I should have been so brave at 38. (I should be so brave today.) You GO, Holly and do your thing. And we'll be here with our creatures awaiting your trumphant return.