Holidays

 So until I met my husband, I had kind of forgotten the existence of "Bank Holidays".  During most of my working life, a "holiday" meant Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Memorial and Labor Day.  Those were the only days I would get "off".  During my internship, I didn't even get those days off, I think the only holiday I got off that year was Memorial Day.  Yes- I went a whole year without holidays that year.  Christmas Eve, Easter, Good Friday all those days were considered "normal working days".  Between vet school and being a veterinarian, there were probably about 10 years where I didn't really get those days "off".

I made a pledge after my internship to never work Sundays again (I had gotten creative my internship year with going to work at 5 PM Saturday night, getting off at 10 AM, going straight to Mass and then starting work again at 5 PM.  Talk about rough.  I seem to recall having a conversation with God like, "now if you ever doubt that I'm faithful, this HAS to be proof."  When I had to work 6 AM- 10PM on Saturdays and Sundays I would end up going to a weekday Mass, they didn't have Masses before 6 AM or after 10 PM in the area I worked- nor probably most areas unless you are in Vatican City.

My husband when we were dating would mention all of these holidays to me, like Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Presidents Day, Martin Luther King Day (that one, I did remember from  my childhood).  He would look at me puzzled when I told him, "No, I have to work that day- those days are the busiest for veterinarians because that's when all the government workers and "normal people" get off so they choose to schedule their wellness exams and other stuff for a day THEY have off.

Now that I'm my own boss and can make my own schedule, I take those holidays off and more.  They are days we use to catch up on things, but most of all days we use to just have good bonding activities as a family.  I hope that my family can continue to enjoy these previously "forgotten" holidays of mine for years to come.