I wanted to be just like my Dad. He was a fighter pilot and then an airline pilot. But I got glasses in Fifth Grade, and couldn’t go in the military. I had no ideas of what I wanted to do when I grew up.

But I did like being outside and I liked the rhythm of the seasons. My senior year in high school, one of my friends said, “You ought to try pre-vet.” We had horses and I rode with the vet that took care of our horses. I rode with him once or twice a week just to see what it was like, and the more I did it the more I liked it. I went to ag school in Indiana, got a degree in general ag, and got into vet school. I stayed in Indiana for seven years. Great time.

We deal with the sick and the injured, and stressed-out owners. And I don’t care if you had dairy farms with problems or horses or dogs and cats — people aren’t always at their best and the animals certainly aren’t because they’re sick and they’re hurt. If you’re thinking of a Disney World experience, that everybody loves you and you’re just gonna pet them all — no, that’s not what our job is.

My parents bought the cider mill in South Glastonbury, and when I moved home from vet school, I started my large animal practice. I rented a house. It was all ambulatory, just my truck and me and we’d go anywhere. As that went on, we fixed the back porch and it became the surgery/exam/recovery room.

I had worked on a couple of farms, and that kind of became my passion: all things agriculture. A friend next to the cider mill said, “You could buy the back” of her family farm — and we still raise fruits and vegetables on it.

The farm has been a tremendous amount of work. I’m really proud of what we’ve done there. We go to the farmers markets in the food deserts, primarily in Hartford. I get great joy from the fact that we were able to produce this food and help people.

Working as a veterinarian does bring me joy — some less than it used to. I served the last dairy farms in Rocky Hill and Wethersfield, and there were a lot of horses. I think a lot of those businesses have gone away due to suburbanization. So there was a lot of joy in that. That work is just gone.

The world has changed. Let’s move on and enjoy life. I’ve got everything I ever wanted. What more do you ask for?

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