Abbott "Pete" Smith D.V.M.: June 16, 1938 - February 22, 2010 Virginia Joyann "Jody" Haley Smith: April 2, 1938 - May 9, 2021 |
Welcome to Milliron Monday where every Monday we celebrate the legacy of Milliron Farm and Clinic, Dr. Pete and Jody Smith.
"I'm feeling fine and evidently the baby is too since it certainly seems active (I'll swear it was chinning itself on my ribs or doing pushups or something while I was in class this morning!)."
― Jody Smith
Jody's letter home to Mansfield, Ohio. Backstory: At 22, Jody is pregnant, continues to ride Starboy, attends college, and keeps house. Anticipating a new baby in July, packages arrive weekly to the Smith household from Jody's parents. Both Pete and Jody attend Colorado State University; Jody in her last quarter, and Pete finishing up Vet school. Pete works with Dr. Frandson at the greyhound track late nights while attending school. Mike is Pete and Jody's Irish Setter staying with Jody's parents. Simmy is Jody's best friend and was her Maid-of-Honor.
917 Remington
Fort Collins, Colorado
Thursday, May 19, 1960
Dear Mom,
Guess I forgot to thank you for the baby magazines, especially the Mother's Manual. I've read articles and glanced through the rest. I'm hoping to have time to read more of them as soon as finals are over, and we get moved. Don't worry about my diet - Peter watches me like a hawk every morning until I swallow my two vitamin pills and he gives me all sorts of static if I don't eat every bit of my egg, etc. Such is life of being married to a veterinary student who's interested in nutrition and nutritional diseases! Needless to say, I am consuming much milk, much to my enjoyment!
Thanks also for the huge box of the blue welcome surprises. I took the labels off the blue nightgown, bed jacket, and robe this morning and pressed them and put them in my suitcase - I certainly hope I won't need them for a while yet, but I guess you never can tell for sure. I like them all very much, especially since they're blue and I've always wanted a pretty little bed jacket. I also enjoyed getting the little baby clothes. It seems hard to imagine that I'll be using them in a couple of months. I'm almost looking forward to the time now.
The Milgrim coat certainly came in handy last night. I went to the Tri Delta house for the Circle Degree (becoming a Tri Delta alum) and it was raining awfully hard, so it was nice to have such a dressy raincoat. I wore my blue suit and, as per usual, got lots of nice comments on it. Of the 24 girls or so whom I pledged with, about 20 were there, a real good turnout. Of course, several of them had quit school and were just in Fort Collins for the meeting. The girl who sat next to me (Marlene Toland) is expecting her baby in June, so I didn't feel too unusual. Three or four of the eight or so, who were married already have young'uns ranging from six months to over a year old. Out of the remaining girls who are seniors and will graduate this June only four weren't getting married in the near future. It sure was nice to see so many of the old sisters again. The alums had a nice dessert for us.
Simmy got her ring last week and announced her engagement Monday night. It's a pretty ring with a large diamond setting and several small ones on either side. She will be able to borrow Bob's sister's dress which she thinks will fit her better since she weighs about 15 more pounds than I did when I was married so I hope you haven't already sent the dress and hoop. She still would like very much to borrow the veil so I hope you can send it pretty soon - preferably before schools out.
It was a very welcome surprise to find $10 in the pocket of the Milgrim coat last night. Thank you very much. I'm sure we'll use it for food but not for eating out I'm afraid. What with the end of the school year, end of the month situation, the bank account has dwindled drastically and it's quite a wait from the rent money from this house - the last of which the guys paid the first of May to the end of June, when Pete should get his first paycheck from the greyhound track job (he starts working there the night of June 20th). He mowed a lady's lawn last Saturday which helped a bit, but he certainly isn't going to have time for any more of that since he's carrying 21 hours this quarter and has six exams next week and then final exams. I don't know how he manages but he's been doing really well this quarter. He got 100 on a test last week, and a couple of 90's, and nothing below C all quarter. I certainly pray that he doesn't tense up or have something happen that will pull his grades down during finals since he's been doing so well so far.
I don't mind not eating out since I still enjoy cooking (this may change, I realize) and Pete's so sweet and appreciative of all my efforts (even navy bean soup for dinner every other night with rhubarb in one form or another for dessert - he just said it tasted better every time; it did taste pretty good, I'll admit, but I was rather glad to see the bottom of the pot!). At any rate, Pete was quite glad to see the $10, and I'm sure he would have been willing to take me out to eat, but it'll sure go a lot further for groceries so I hope you don't mind our spending it that way since it would help alleviate some of his money worries a bit right now.
I was relieved to hear that Mike is still a member of the family. If he gets bothersome with children, etc., again, you might consider having him castrated. It seems like a cruel thing to do to such a beautiful dog, but he'd probably be happier to be able to stay with you than to be living with strangers. I certainly hope he continues behaving though since having him altered seems like a last, last resort to me.
Thanks also for the letter from the bank. I'll try to remember to mail that reply to the examiners today. I have written two more checks besides what's shown on the account since I wasn't sure what you plan to do about the account at the end of the school year.
Starboy's foot is much better. The cut is nearly healed over, so we're lucky to have a healthy, sound horse again instead of a permanently lame one. Pete did a real thorough job of keeping the wound clean and bandaged.
I hope you still have that little rocking chair which used to sit in the corner of the living room by the bookcases over at Coleman Road (if I remember correctly, last time I saw it was up in the attic at Andover). If you are not using it and don't want it, and if you drive out in July and have room to bring it, I'd sure like to have it. There are lots of "if's" involved, I realize, so I won't be upset or anything if it never makes it out here, but I just thought I'd mention it in hopes that you hadn't given it away. I hope to be able to nurse the baby and according to one of the books you sent, it really does help to rock a baby.
Dr. Rumley was out of town this week when I had my appointment, so I didn't get to ask her several questions I had concerning how much time will be necessary for my recuperation, etc., when you should plan on coming out here, etc. But I have another appointment a week from Saturday, so I'll find out as much as I can and let you know. I'm feeling fine and evidently the baby is too since it certainly seems active (I'll swear it was chinning itself on my ribs or doing pushups or something while I was in class this morning!).
I decided definitely not to participate in the graduation ceremonies since we'll be moving out to Birky's right at that time and I'll be awfully busy with that.
Bye for now.
Love,
Jody
P.S. In answer to your question, the clothes fit Pete fine except for the waist of the slacks which is about two inches too big. I must have measured wrong or something (I measured a pair of his Levi's when he wasn't home so it would surprise him when they came). They don't look too bad since he wears a belt with them and we figured it would be difficult for you to send them back, particularly if it was a special sale. Besides that, he liked them so much he started right in wearing them before I could get all the tags off.
Hope you can read my writing. I would have typed this if I'd realized it was going to turn out to be so long.
Love again,
Me
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Through captivating, powerful, and emotional anecdotes, we celebrate the life of Dr. Abbott P. Smith. His biography takes the reader from smiles to laughter to empathy and tears. Dr. Smith gave us compelling lessons learned from animals; the role animals play in the human condition, the joy of loving an animal, and the awe of their spirituality. A tender and profound look into the life of a skilled veterinarian.
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