Saying I loved animals was an understatement. When I was a kid, I could have created a small city with all the stuffed animals in my room. Sometimes I would spread them on the floor, and pretend I was their benevolent human queen. I loved to go to zoos. I wouldn’t want to leave until we saw every exhibit. When I got older, I read every single plaque of trivial, incomprehensible facts. I learned the largest elephant reached a weight of 12,600 pounds, but when you’re barely over fifty cents yourself, that kind of gets lost on you.

And of course, like any preteen girl, I only wanted three things in life – marry Eddie Furlong, get more unicorn stickers, and to become a veterinarian.

But where most girls wanted to take care of cute puppies and kitties, I wanted to help the 600 lb. gorilla Shecky deliver her babies. I wanted to cut up the dead smelly fish for the penguins, and clean up after the rhinoceros.

So when finally I became a zoo vet, I was surprised how I met my husband.