My son, Isaiah, sent me a text saying he had to work on Saturday last weekend. I asked him why (many of you know he is a veterinarian). He spent a year teaching at North Woods and then a few summers working for the Fishers at Vermilion Veterinary Clinic. Apparently, he had a dog come in with a massive growth inside the abdomen. Isaiah spent hours in surgery removing the mass. It weighed over 10 pounds and he was concerned about the dog’s ability to survive the weekend so he wanted to stay close to it. It pulled through the weekend and is doing well.

It’s funny, you watch your kids grow up and wonder where life will take them. I remember when he enrolled at Kansas he wanted to become a veterinarian, but after year one he was almost on probation, and I thought, well, he’s not going to be able to become one. Then he went back to school and was a 4.0 for his final three years and was able to set himself up to apply to Veterinary School. He only applied to Kansas State based on the analytics he was a shoe in, but then he didn’t do well at the interview. He thought his dream was over, but decided to apply to St. George University in Grenada. He nailed that interview and spent three years at St. George. Except that towards the end of the second year Covid hit. He called up one day and said they were sending everyone home. He moved back to Cook and finished the last year in Cook and he was worried that his surgical skills would be lacking since he was not getting much practice. The school then set up hands-on training during the spring in Las Vegas. He had to pass a Covid test prior to heading there, he had no symptoms but failed the test. Now he was distraught thinking this would be a huge setback. The school, however, set him up for the summer in Vegas to work on his surgical skills. In his final year he attended Oregon State. It took him nine years from the time he started college to finally graduate.

I thought he would end up in northern Minnesota, but we have spent a lot of time hunting in Idaho, then school in Oregon and he wanted to spend some time in the mountains. Currently, he is practicing in Utah.

I look at all the obstacles and adversity that he encountered along his journey. He could have given up and quit so many times, yet he continued to pursue his dream. I’m pretty sure at some point I would have given up and moved on. He did not and now he is saving lives. I’m proud of him for staying the course and fulfilling his dream.

In the era of people wanting instant gratification, doctors, nurses and other health care providers have to go through years and years of schooling. For most of those years they take out hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans. Those loans accrue interest during all that time. When they finally start their career, they are close to 30 years old with a massive debt. Many of them work long shifts and show up on their days off. Anyone in health care has sacrificed and given a lot to be able to have the skills to provide for others. Often they are taken for granted, but remember their sacrifice when you need their services. For those of you out there whether you provide for any living thing – I would like to say – Thank You.