On April 30, 1990, I opened Garden Ridge Animal Hospital. My ex-husband and I envisioned a free-standing homey small animal hospital where we could be our own bosses, grow a business, raise children, engage in our community, and have a wonderful life. The business succeeded, but the marriage failed in 1997 shortly after the birth of my son, Wayne. Life went on, I met a wonderful man in 2002, we married, and today we are celebrating 15 years of marriage.
Here I am 30 years later, and it has been a wonderful ride. The technology, computers, websites, and medicines, children and my hair color have changed, but the fundamentals of the human-animal bond, examining a pet, doing surgery, and communication with staff and owners are steadfast. The types of patients I have seen has changed slightly over the years, especially since I started seeing exotic pets like rabbits, ferrets, birds, reptiles, and pocket pets (rodents, hedgehogs). The last six weeks have been a crazy period, but we are still open for business. I am missing seeing my clients, many I have known for close to 30 years. I even have two clients I knew before 1990 from the first practice I worked at in Dallas, Hines North Animal Hospital.
I have been blessed with fantastic staff, pet parents, wonderful patients, lots of interesting cases, and social involvement. I have been on the City of Lewisville Animal Control committee several times, serving 6-8 years all together, most recently during the construction of the new Animal Shelter by Railroad Park. I have lead Girl Scout troops, Cub Scout troops, and hosted numerous scouting merit badge events. I have done Career Days at the High School level and Middle School level. I have worked with child daycares for Bite Prevention. We treat classroom pets. We work with pet stores to keep their critters healthy.
Lately, I have gotten involved with the Medical Reserve Corp in Denton, and Ham radio out in East Texas where we have a small cattle ranch and Airbnb lodge. My mom is alive and well, but cannot drive, so we do a weekly “lunch”, and run errands. And I get to enjoy my granddaughter in Flower Mound!
Achievements:
AAHA certification since 2006
Fear Free Certification since 2017
Best Animal Hospital People Choice Award
Best Landscaping award in 1995
I had hoped to do something special for the 30th anniversary. Something like a big open house, or a big 30% off sale, but that is not going to happen during the time of the Coronavirus. Maybe I will just have to do it for the 31st anniversary!
I hope to see ya’ll soon! Stay safe. Hug your pets.
