Wet Cleanup on Aisle 5

Breaking Down Barriers

I spent last weekend climbing and camping near Aspen with my handsome other half, who was having a birthday. I snuck around to all the other campsites and left invitations to drop by for cake and ice cream. About 30 people showed up (boy was he surprised), and every one was interesting and fun to talk with.

The most interesting to me, though, was a woman who looked to be in her seventies or so. We got to talking about my going back to school and she told me she was the first woman ever trained as a surgeon in the state of Colorado. She’d had a forty year career as a general surgeon, and, as she put it, “had to break down a lot of barriers.” (I probably misquoted her slightly, but that was the gist.)

At any rate, meeting her reinforced my decision to go to school. So what if I don’t graduate vet school until I turn 40? At least, as a friend put it, I’ll be 40 and a vet, instead of just plain ol’ 40. And what I’ll have to overcome is nothing compared to being the first woman ever trained as a surgeon in Colorado. I should count my lucky stars.

Thanks, Amy, it was an inspiration to meet you.