June 16, 1938 - February 22, 2010 |
Welcome to Milliron Monday where every Monday we celebrate the legacy of Pete Smith, D.V.M., and Milliron: Abbott “Pete” Smith, D.V.M. The Biography (Monday Creek Publishing 2017). A graduate of Colorado State University and a well-known veterinarian in southeast Ohio, Dr. Smith continues to motivate and inspire.
I’m
Carol Robinson. I am the eldest of the five Smith kids, but Pete was close
behind – just a year and nine months behind. Whether it was a year and nine
months or two years depended on the subject because typically he resented being
told he was two years younger.
My
memories of life with Pete began at Little River Farm in Freeport, Maine. It
was a wonderful place on an inlet of Casco Bay – a point, as it was called, and
accessible over a single-lane wooden bridge. Diving from it – when the tide was
in, of course, really was great fun. Pete, of course, probably would have had
me do it at low tide. I recall that his challenge was to do this race barefoot
– on this gravel road. I have noticed that he and I have very wide, big feet.
Wonder if that’s why…
Actually,
I do recall a funny story about living in Yarmouth, before Freeport, also near
the water. I know that we were very young then, because Smith kid Number 3,
Suze, hadn’t been born. The story goes that Mom wanted Pete to go up to the
garden – in my child’s recollection it seemed like a long way - but might have
been just the equivalent of two or three blocks – to get her some green onions.
There was a thunderstorm threatening and a reluctant and scared Pete got up
there in record time - Mom and Dad often talked about how fast he must have
run.
But
back to Freeport, Little River Farm held great memories. One questionable
memory for me was Pete teasing me with garter snakes – he’d toss them at me and
make me scream for help. He also liked to snap a damp tea towel at me when we
did dishes. Dishwashers always were the two-legged variety in the Smith house.
It
was there that he helped an injured crow and in the process taught that crow to
talk – probably more fiction that fact. That was a subject of family delight
for a long time. The crow was named Pliny, the family middle name. Pete also
knew that the only way to kill a porcupine was to hit it in its tiny head with
a 22, and I believe he must have dispatched a porky or two on that farm.
One
of the most interesting things about my brother was that drawl. Where did that
come from? I can’t recall that he ever had a Maine accent, but then none of us
really did. That, I believe we have to attribute to Mom, that Montana girl.
That drawl was a characteristic of Pete’s that I think most of us enjoyed.
When
our parents left Colorado to go back to the East Coast, I was in college and
Pete had just started at what was then Colorado A&M, so we didn’t go back
with them, but those three little kids did.
At
school in Colorado, Pete met the love of his life Jody Haley. I think Jessica
was born after Jody finished college and Pat when Pete graduated, or
thereabouts.
One
of Pete’s greater lines was regarding our kids – his and mine – when anyone was
heard to say that Abbott and Betty had produced a great bunch of kids, he liked
to say, “Wa’al them good genes shore skipped a generation.” – because the kids
he and I brought into this world have been not only great, but bright and
loving kids.
Lastly,
I just have to tell you, Pete, you left too soon. I am the eldest – yes, two
years or a year and nine months – and I should have gone first. I know that Mom
and Dad have welcomed you with open arms. They probably wondered if they were
ever going to see any of us, and were surprised it was so soon. I love you,
Pete. Yes, you won another race – the biggest one.
No comments:
Post a Comment