What Vet Life Looks Like at Home: Patti Eddington’s Story

What does veterinary life really look like beyond the clinic walls? In this episode of Vet Life Reimagined, host Megan Sprinkle talks with Patti Eddington, a journalist and longtime spouse of a veterinarian.

Patti shares the humor, heart, and real-life chaos of being married to a vet, along with stories from her book, Don’t Look in the Freezer. This conversation highlights the human side of veterinary medicine and the families who help make this career possible.

If you work in veterinary medicine or love someone who does, this episode is for you.
 
Resources:

• Purchase Patti’s book: Don’t Look in the Freezer
•  Purchase Patti’s book: The Girl with Three Birthdays 
•  Learn more about She Writes Press
•  Video edition on YouTube
•  Sprinkle of Wisdom Substack for the episode’s Podcast Club Guide 

Transcript

Patti Eddington: [00:00:00] I think the skills that I honed telling other people's stories hopefully came to play when I, it was time to tell ours

Megan Sprinkle: Here's a little veterinary secret. The stories that shape veterinary life are largely not in the clinic. While our work is a large part of what we do and even who we are, the real stories behind you and your coworkers happen at home and in all the small, funny, exhausting, meaningful moments that you often don't see at work.

Welcome to Vet Life Reimagined, where I always try to go beyond the work and get to know the people behind the profession. Because behind every veterinary professional is a family, a partner, and a whole life built around the realities of this career, all with the love, support, and chaos that come with it.

Today's guest is not a veterinary professional. Patti Edington is a journalist, dance fitness instructor, and gifted storyteller who has spent years capturing the humor and [00:01:00] heart of an extraordinary life married to a veterinarian for almost 45 years, and she put their adventures into a book called "Don't Look in the Freezer."

Patti married her veterinary student boyfriend, Jim, when they were in college, and while she expected their life together to center around animals, she wasn't quite prepared for all the shenanigans that would come with it. Her life has been incredibly happy, but probably not as glamorous as some might expect.

Today, Patti shares her fascinating story and the process of writing a book. She has a unique vantage point of veterinary medicine that is so valuable for us to stop and listen to. This conversation is veterinary medicine. It's about the people who live it, love it, and carry it home with them, and the families who make that life possible.

Let's get to the conversation with Patti Edington.

Welcome, Patti, to Vet Life Reimagined. I'm very excited to have you on the podcast. Now, [00:02:00] you're a little bit of a non-traditional guest, so you are not a veterinary professional yourself, I'm really excited to hear your perspective, having a family of people in the veterinary industry.

we're gonna focus on you and your story. so I'd love to know a little bit about maybe even starting from when you were growing up, and I know you said you were an only child, , you probably had very solitary acti- activities that you did. But were animals part of your life?

Patti Eddington: Yeah. Well, thank you. I'm so delighted to be here. I've been listening to the podcast. I love it. You're doing a great job, and it's really interesting all the different guests that you have on. So yeah, I'm not a veterinary professional, but I've been married to one almost 45 years. And, I met my husband when I was 16, and he was 17, and he told me one of our first dates that he was going to be a veterinarian. And I'm like: "Oh, isn't that hard?" And he's like: Yeah, I guess so." But but is what... And he, he knew from the time he was 12. yes, I [00:03:00] was raised in mid-Michigan, on a farm. I... And, I was adopted, so I came to live with my parents as a foster child when I was 20 months old. And, one of my very first vivid memories, I was four, and I was taking a nap, and I was awakened by barking. And I remember so distinctly, like, getting out of bed and going out into the living room, probably rubbing my eyes, and my mom said, "We have a surprise for you outside." And it was a little dog. And someone who worked with my dad said, "I have purebred German shepherds. "And would you like one for your daughter?" And Dad said, "I probably should have thought, why was he giving me a purebred dog?" You know, just here's one for your kid. And it's a boy, you know. And so Dad's like: "Sure." And later he said neither one of those damn things was true. It was a girl, and she was not a German shepherd, she was not purebred.

But she was my first best friend. Her name was Queenie. [00:04:00] And, you know, I'd jump off the bus, and every day she'd be there to, greet me, and it was my first real understanding of how important pets could be in your life. Because I was kind of a loner. My parents were older when they adopted me. I was living in the middle of nowhere.

I did have a lot of neighbor kids around and we all played and stuff, but then they'd go home and it would be just me. So, Queenie and I would, we had lots of acres and my dad would flood a little apple orchard that we had every winter. And I would get off the bus and get a snack and put on my clothes and Queenie and I would go out and I would ice skate. And she, we have a Christmas card of me with her. And you know, I was kind of a solitary child a lot. I did love to read, which is how I became a writer, but she was always there. She lived until I was in college. So she had a nice long life, but we had barn cats and [00:05:00] eventually my parents got me ponies. And then eventually I didn't take care of the ponies and they were doing it all.

So they sold the ponies and they got me a cat. So animals have just been, you know, part of my life forever. And I told someone else, I guess there are people who don't adore them, but I don't know or trust those people.

Megan Sprinkle: Reading some of the stories in your book, uh, I could definitely tell that you equally care for animals. There are some stories about, like, you scolding people, for mistreating animals. Which is good because I think it does give you an understanding of what your husband does and why he did things as you...

And you said, like, a, a lot of the times when he would get called away from the family, you didn't mind because you wanted him to help the animals. So, uh, I

Patti Eddington: Yeah.

Megan Sprinkle: can tell you have also a very big heart for what he does.

Patti Eddington: I hope so. I hope that was my reaction most of the times. There were times when it, you know, [00:06:00] got frustrating when we first started our practice. We were young and we didn't have anyone else to be on call. It was, you know, in the very early days, it was Jim and I would come and do the laundry at night from my job, answer the phones on the weekends.

And so there was no one else. There was an answering machine under our bed. I have, when I think about that, why did we put it under our bed? But there was an answering machine and, you know, it went off and all hours of the night. And before we had our daughter, Molly, which was, we didn't have her for 11 years after we were married.

So those first years, I usually would pop up and go with him to the calls to help if I could. we were young. It didn't seem to matter if we slept as much as it seems to matter to me now. But, yeah, I feel like I got the best of both worlds. I don't have to do all that hard work, but I sure got to see all the stories through the years and enjoy

them for the most part.

Megan Sprinkle: I was gonna say, I don't know. It, it sounds like you did some work too, so don't sell yourself short. but, you know, going back, you mentioned, you know, you met, uh, your husband and started dating when you were around [00:07:00] 16 in high school, and he was already saying, you know, he was thinking about being a veterinarian.

And I think also, um, I think this came up in the book too, is this was also around the time that the James Herriot books came out. Is that right? Or-

Patti Eddington: Um, I think they came out... They may have come out before that, um, but I started reading them

Megan Sprinkle: Oh.

Patti Eddington: Yeah, they might have come out in the early... I, I honestly don't know, in the early '70s or so. But, certainly I remember reading them in college and rereading them. And, you know, it was pretty much mandatory at...

People of our generation in vet school, everybody, you know, knew. I've run into younger vets who don't know those

stories now, but, he was in "The Yorkshire Dales." That isn't his real name. but they were really lovely stories, and there was a little... I wouldn't say there's a bite to them, but every once in a while something, some real truisms would come in.

The thing that, I think of most about that, because it certainly is true, and maybe a lot of your listeners who are veterinarians, there was a part in the book [00:08:00] where James would be downtown and someone would come up and really loudly say, "Hey, Herriot, that thing you did for my cow didn't work."

You know, and everyone's listening and, you know, "And it cost this much, and it didn't work. It's..." You know, and blah, blah, blah. And then someone else would come up and say, "I really en- enjoyed what you did, and that, that my cat's feeling a lot better." And, you know, really quietly. And that seems to be very true.

If someone has something negative to say, we're gonna hear it loudly. And if it's, you know, if they're praising you, it's like, "Yeah, it was great."

Megan Sprinkle: well, the reason why I was asking you, I was curious if, you know, when you read the books, did you-- And then hearing your boyfriend slash, you know, eventually fiancé and, and husband, did you think that your life would be like that? Like, I didn't know how much the books kind of played into your expectations and, like, how everything ended up coming once it was reality.

Patti Eddington: Um, I don't know if I thought that, but it was such a different time. Herriot was writing about a [00:09:00] time in the '40s you know, so we were 40 years beyond that, and in a different country. And, Jim did start out thinking he was... He did, work in large animal, a few years. Uh, he thought he would do mixed practice, but moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, which is a college town, and our first job, his first job, mine was at a little newspaper in Chelsea, Michigan, and his was, um, working at a practice in Ann Arbor, and that was pretty much small animal. and then he did go and work with horses and never really did any dairy work or anything, which was a lot of what- James Herriot was doing. He was doing a lot of farm calls. They did have, think they called it the surgery, in their house actually. I thought it was a really lovely look at the better sides of it.

but I don't know that I had an expectation that would be like that. The only thing that I remember along that line is when we decided to open our own practice. Jim graduated, in [00:10:00] 1983 and he was 23. He was a pretty young graduate. At that time, at Michigan State anyway, he was one of the younger students accepted into the program.

A lot of people had applied many times and would maybe be into their 30s before they were accepted into the program. So he was a younger graduate. and 50/50, male and female students, which has certainly changed over the years and certainly leans much more heavily to, female. I remember when we decided to start our own practice or buy a practice about, see in '88 we opened, so he, he didn't practice very long before doing that. we looked at practices everywhere in Michigan and we went to this beautiful little town in Michigan called Romeo and there was a practice for sale and it was in this cool old house and, and the, it was in a garage next to the house, several that we looked at.

The house was right there and I said, "I'm not sure that I [00:11:00] want to have our home be part of where the practice is. People will always be knocking on our door like they did for Herriot." And Jim said, "Babe, they're gonna do that anyway." And he was absolutely right. we live in a small town and I can't even count, even now today think when someone's knock on the door, "Oh, is it Amazon or is it someone with a broken cat?"

people do know where you live and it's okay with us that they do that. We, we also have had through the years people show up with children and say, "Do you think this needs stitches?" So

it was a, it, I think that was a rarefied time that he was writing about and it was interesting and as someone said about, I, I do talk early on in the book that we are not the Herriots. We're nothing like that. And, I, I say I wonder if the Herriots were even the Herriots. I think that possibly the difference between those wonderful books and mine I show a lot of our warts and let people know, you know, who we really are because [00:12:00] I don't think it would be as good a book if I tried to make us sound like we were perfect.

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah, I completely agree. I, I think I mentioned this earlier when we talked, and I think especially these days, we're very thirsty for, people being honest and being real, and there's a lot more opportunity to connect and have things resonate when it's truthful. 

Patti Eddington: Yeah, I hope so. I hope so. The book seems to be hitting. People seem to be enjoying it. It's got gotten wonderful professional reviews, which is nice for me. and so, and, I've been a journalist most of my career. I, I've worked in public relations and but I've been writing all of my life.

And, When I wasn't, really writing quite as much, the kind of copy I wanted, I did a blog, and that was based when I thought I was-- I wrote this book, the first manuscript, oh, probably 15 or 16 years ago, and set it aside. But I was also doing a blog called Don't Look in the Freezer at that time. And what what I got most when I was in the [00:13:00] grocery store is, "Oh, you're so funny." I'm like, "I'm not really trying to be. that is just our life." But my Facebook posts, I try to be humorous about it. and Jim's a funny guy, and I write a lot about that. I think that people identify with humor and, you know, there's a lot of days that aren't, funny in veterinary medicine, but then there are, there are some pretty great stories that came out

Megan Sprinkle: Yes. And sometimes it doesn't feel funny in the moment, but in hindsight it becomes funny.

Patti Eddington: Yes. There is a story in the book, it was one of the first reasons I, I wrote at Interlochen is a beautiful high school, in northern Michigan. It's out in the woods. It's musicians, it's creative arts, and it's a lot of famous actors and musicians and so forth have gone there. but I went to a writing workshop there, and one of the first things I ever wrote about Jim was a story that has made it into the book, and the chapter is called, Of Course These Things Can Always Turn Around. We had been [00:14:00] on emergency calls all day- on a Sunday. We had this theory that if it, the phone didn't ring by 11:00 we're gonna be okay, but if it rang you were gonna be go- uh, it was not scientific at all, but we were in and out, and in and out, and in and out. And Jim had a dog who had a traumatic head injury, and, he didn't have a lot of hope for the owner. but he did what he could and, I call her Phoebe in the book. I honestly don't know what her name was. But, back we went home, phone rang, back we went again. Back and forth, and back and forth, and on one of those trips Jim checked on her, and she was sitting up in her cage smiling, wagging her tail. and , he was, you know, just so proud of his immense veterinary skills. And he went to the phone. He called the owner, and they weren't there. And it was, you know, it was a time before cell phones. It was probably in the very early 1990s. And back we went home again. We, we didn't even walk in the door, and the phone was ringing.

We had left the clinic maybe 15 minutes before we were back there. And Jim's like, "I'm gonna try that guy [00:15:00] again." I'm like, "Okay." And he's, gets the guy this time. He's on the phone and I can hear him saying, "She's doing great.

Her respiration's great. She's sitting up. She's wagging her tail." Meanwhile, I go to the back room to pet our clinic cat, and Phoebe is taking her agonal breath, four paws up. And I didn't know what to do. I went running to him with, uh, making the universal slashing moment, motion across my throat and going like this. And he's like... And I said... And he's like, "Dead?" And I'm like, "I think so." And he just, his face, I'll never forget. He just, all the joy, of course, went out of his face, and he's on the phone with the owner telling them how well the dog is doing. And he said, "Of course these things can always turn around." you know, here he was at the top of the world, and then pulled right back down to reality.

And that story got such good response from the people at Interlake. I thought, "Well, maybe there really is a book here. Maybe the people will enjoy hearing some of these stories." [00:16:00] so that was kind of the impetus of it way back when.

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. I, I'm sorry if this is a silly question. What was it about that story? 'Cause you're, you're surrounded by creatives that, that understand, like, the importance of climax and that, you know. I, I'm curious, like, what was it about that specifically that they're like, "Oh, you, you might have something here"?

Patti Eddington: I think it was a little unexpected. You

Megan Sprinkle: Okay.

Patti Eddington: um, they weren't veterinary professionals, so I guess they probably thought, "Hey, the dog's gonna be okay if it looks okay now." You know, so maybe you folks would all know, "Well, be a little more cautious." He was so young, right? maybe give it a little while and make sure.

But he was just so anxious to tell the owner it was gonna be okay. I think it was just the unexpected nature that, oh, that could happen. And, um, honestly, someone did ask me, "What did you do?" And I'm like, "I don't remember." I think I advised him, you know, 'cause he couldn't then say, "Oh, wait a minute. Dead."

Megan Sprinkle: so you hung up. Oh, no.

Patti Eddington: He says like, [00:17:00] "Oh, guess what? No, didn't mean any of that." so he hung up and he just went back to check. He's like, "Hey, I'll, I'll call you back later on," you know, and he went back to check 'cause I, you know, could've been wrong. And she had indeed passed on. so I, I think I advised him.

He's like, "Now what do I do? I mean, I just was being a jerk and saying this is all gonna be fine." I said, " Well, you can't do anything except, you know, tell the truth. But why don't you, as a kindness to them, to wait a little bit. Don't call them back right this minute." You know, because whiplash.

They're just like, "Wait, what?" So, I think he waited a, a small amount of time and called them a little bit later and said, "Hey, I'm so sorry. She did take turn." But you know, you just... It's one of those can't-win situations. We'll never forget that day.

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. Yeah. I, I think when you've been in practice long enough, I think animals have also taught us that anything is possible. I'm sure you and your husband have cases of where you really [00:18:00] thought, like, there's not much we can do and somehow the animal does amazing. And so

Patti Eddington: Yeah.

Megan Sprinkle: think that's also something you start to learn is anything is possible both directions.

And so-- But I, I totally understand. I probably would have done the same thing as got excited

Patti Eddington: Yeah. I'm--

Megan Sprinkle: and, and

Patti Eddington: both of us just going, you know, we were, barely 30 years old probably, and just not sure what to do. You know, and there is a story like that in the, in the "All Creatures Great and Small" book about Herriot doing , a twisted stomach in a cow and, being unable to put it back into the cow very well and so sure that he had mucked it up horribly and probably it was gonna get an infection and it had dirt on it or s- you know, whatever. uh, cow did great. You know, he saw, he went into town the next time and the guy's like, "Hey, my cow's doing wonderful." So you do the best you can in the moment. And I think that we know obviously a lot of [00:19:00] veterinarians and, um, I think they all can appreciate things like that because it's probably something , like that has happened to them.

Megan Sprinkle: well, I wanted to ask you more about being a journalist because I mentioned this to you as well. Not only do you have this unique perspective of being the wife of, a veterinarian, but you also have the mind and the eyes and the communication skills of your journalism background. So you mentioned you were a reader and, and that started you into writing.

What did you start doing, uh, journalism-wise? 'Cause I know there's, like, lots of different ways you can take that. What did you like to do?

Patti Eddington: Yeah, I loved doing, feature stories. I did have to cover news. I graduated at such a different time in journalism in the early 1980s. I graduated in 1982 from Michigan State, and Jim was, still in vet school. We lived in a really, really crummy student apartment. tiny, tiny. We were broke. one [00:20:00] of our big weekend activities was we listened to the neighbors fighting

Megan Sprinkle: Oh,

Patti Eddington: We'd go in the bathroom 'cause we could hear it better. And, uh, we didn't have any money. On, on Wednesday nights, we would, go to-- They used to have, when I used to eat meat like that, they used to have 79 cent or something like that Whopper night at Burger King, and we would go and each get a Whopper, and we'd split a Diet Coke or whatever. We were that poor. We went to a restaurant that gave you free peanuts because, you know, when you sat down and then just eat, like, a salad or something, the most minimal thing we could do. so it was a different time, W-we had a couple things that went against me early on to do a whole big, major journalism career.

Megan Sprinkle: My 

Patti Eddington: My 

Megan Sprinkle: parents were older, and I didn't want to leave Michigan

Patti Eddington: because I was their only child, and they had adopted me in their 40s, and they were beginning to even have health issues [00:21:00] then. I had a, my first journalism professor at Lansing Community College before I transferred to Michigan State, came to me, and said

State came to me and said, 

I think you have something here, and 

I think I can probably get you a scholarship at Northwestern

Megan Sprinkle: Oh, wow. Uh-huh.

Patti Eddington: And I didn't even think twice. I'm like, "No, because my parents are here and I have a boyfriend." I never even considered even going then. So, I was kind of then tied into working at small newspapers, and I, I worked at several small newspapers, in Michigan after graduation, a couple weeklies. Then I, then Jim moved across state after his first job to work near Grand Rapids. I worked at, in Holland, Michigan, for the Holland Newspaper and the Grand Rapids Press at their bureau. And I went into public relations for a while. I mean, I had to cover murders, and I had to cover fires, and sad things, and, but I always felt that what I really was best at was writing about people's lives and feature stories. uh, at my, one of my last jobs working at the [00:22:00] Grand Rapids Press, the wonderful editor that I had always let me do the interviews for any authors that came through town, cause she knew I was such a big reader. And so I've gotten to interview so many well-known authors, and at that point never even thinking...

You know, this was in the, 2009, 2010, right around in there when I was doing that. Never even imagining that one day I would decide to write a book. it made sense to me after a while. I think the skills that I honed telling other people's stories hopefully came to play when I, it was time to tell ours.

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. Is there a particular author or person that you particularly remember?

Patti Eddington: So many. Um, so the ones that, uh, ha- that have become friends, actually. there's an author named Wade Rouse, who is kind of my mentor, and he writes also under the name of Viola Shipman. there's a wonderful poet in [00:23:00] Michigan, Jack Ridl, who kind of also took me under his wing. Jacqueline Mitchard, was the, Oprah's first, book club.

When she started it, she wrote the book, The Deep End of the Ocean. And I interviewed her, for the press, and went to a reading, that she did at a, a big high school. We had something called Read Along the Lakeshore, and the whole county would, you know, you could read this book and then go and hear the author. uh, I interviewed her, and she was really nice, but she seemed very sad that night, and she admired a pin that I was wearing. when I turned to say goodbye to her, she was sitting all alone. I mean, here's this woman who's pretty darn famous and a wonderful author, and yet she's out without her family, you know, on a Thursday night doing, you know, and having to talk to me, and then go out and talk to 300 people or whatever. So, when I went to leave that night- I gave my pin to an usher and asked them to give it to her. And she wrote about me. She wrote a blog about me. So there are so many, nice people, you know. I get to [00:24:00] go to a lot of book things, and I have my own, like, "Oh my gosh, I just really love your work." And, um, Adriana Trigiani is a, a really wonderful author, and I went to a writer's conference in Kauai a couple years ago, and I got out of a car and literally fell over her. She was sitting on a curb, and I tripped on her, and I was an idiot. I'm like, "Ah, I love you." Um, you know, there was a couple people that were unexpected that were authors in an unexpected way, and one of them was the voice of Lisa Simpson, Yardley Smith? , and she wrote a book. And she was one of the nicest people I've ever talked to. And another one was a, a woman who was, um, illustrator. She had a comic strip called For Better or Worse.

Megan Sprinkle: Uh-huh.

Patti Eddington: And, her father was a veterinarian, I think, or something like that.

So we were able to trade stories like that. But honestly, I can only think in the few years that I did that, I can only think of one, and I won't tell you who, who's a

Megan Sprinkle: Okay.

Patti Eddington: famous author, who was [00:25:00] not my favorite. But, still not even that bad. But everyone was really nice.

Megan Sprinkle: Oh, wonderful. Uh, I know you mentioned that you had started this particular book, cause you've written two for this one you started 15 years ago. You know, you said when you were initially talking with all these authors, you weren't even thinking about being one your-- one day.

but what was it 15 years ago that encouraged you to start writing your own story?

Patti Eddington: I think one thing was just, I was turning 50. I thought that was so old. I, now I know it's not. Um, and, it was timed by our daughter was heading off to college. And, I had gone to that Interlochen thing, and that got me starting the... You know, we had to write some... I don't even remember what the assignment was, but I wrote that about these things can always turn around.

And I remember sitting in the living room with my husband and saying... You know, I was working for a magazine, a beautiful magazine, called Lake Magazine. It was based in La Porte, [00:26:00] Indiana, and it covered what we call the Gold Coast of Michigan, . gorgeous, big tabloid, um, magazine. But it was obvious magazines were not gonna be having that same kind of, you know, future. Same with newspapers. And my parents had both just passed away, and I needed something. Molly was gonna be gone, and, I still was getting lots of writing assignments for, I was doing a, a health column for the Grand Rapids Press but I could see things were changing. And I got thinking about it and I said, "Do you think anyone would want to hear our stories?" You know, they- we've accumulated a lot of stories and some of them are pretty funny. And pets are just such a universal thing, that I think, maybe people would wanna read about our clinic cat, Gratus, falling through the ceiling.

And, we tell the stories and people laugh. so that was really the impetus of it. I didn't know anything about publishing or [00:27:00] writing a book, and I got a manuscript kind of together, and my friend Wade, who I've mentioned, who has written so many. He's, he's got a USA Today bestseller out right now, called "That's What Friends Are For," and it's based in Palm Springs.

And it's, of four men who, they call themselves The Golden Gays, and they they reenact in pl- in a play form the Golden Girls episodes. And, um, it's, it's really a good book, really entertaining, and very interesting and, and poignant. but, uh, anyway, he introduced me to his agent. He said, "I think she might have some interest," and she said, "Almost." I didn't know how to structure a book. I really had no knowledge of it. You know, I'd taken that one writing workshop or whatever for that kind of thing. She suggested a couple things and I'm like, "I don't think I wanna do that." One was that it should be maybe structured more about one or two pets and not all of our stories. And then I did reach out to one other agent, and he had been the agent of, a person who wrote a [00:28:00] really well-known book about, a dog. , I'm trying to be careful 'cause I don't know if he'll hear this. And he was very nice though, and he said, "I like your writing style, but I'm married to a veterinarian too and I don't think anyone would care." so I'm like, "Oh, okay. Really?" Traditional publishing is very difficult and, you need to have a platform. People need to know kind of who you are or whatever. So that kind of entered in even b- way back then. So- For whatever reason, I set it aside and, always in the back of my mind. And then in 2018, our daughter gave me a DNA test. she was having some health issues and deserved to know if we didn't have too much information. We had some, and as it turned out, most of that was wrong. but when I found out who my biological relatives on my father's side were, and within, um, couple weeks, the wonderful woman I met, through the DNA, through I think it was Ancestry, invited me to her granddaughter's quinceañera. And we went and met all of my [00:29:00] relatives, and they told me a story that I couldn't believe and also was heartbreaking. the gist of it is that I'd always been told I'd been in foster care before my coming to my parents' foster care , and then adopting me. And I met a little aunt at that quinceañera who said, "Oh no, honey, you were living with us. You were living with your father's, relatives, another sister who wanted to adopt you. And she came downstairs with you one day, and you were in your pretty dress," which always made me stop when I tell that story because you were in your pretty dress. I had one dress. And, then, the aunt said, I said, "Where are you taking the baby?

Where are you taking Mary?" And her sister said, "Today we're going to court, and we're gonna talk to the judge. And when we come home tonight, Mary Ann will be ours forever and ever." And my aunt said, "And then we never saw you again." So I, the journalist in me thought, " Oh, wait a minute. What happened?" You know, I had imagined maybe [00:30:00] something, you know, in that era in time, in that part of the state where we lived, that maybe there was some racism involved in that, decision to not place me with my family. As it turns out, by the way, and I do write about this in the book, I met the daughter of the judge, and we determined that is not what happened, but that's in the book. but, that's why I, you know, I went to a court and had my adoption records unsealed, and what was in it was even more surprising than that.

So I, I didn't really feel like there was anything I could do but write this story. It was so intriguing, and it's called The Girl With Three Birthdays. and, while that was in process of being published, and it takes about two years for a book to be published, there was some downtime. And I thought, "You know what?

I'm really liking this. This is kind of fun. I get to talk to nice people, and, you know, I might as well haul out Don't Look in the Freezer." And I did, and I rewrote the entire thing, and then that was accepted. So yeah, this freezer was kind of [00:31:00] my first book and my second

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah.

Patti Eddington: too.

Megan Sprinkle: that's really interesting. Um, that sounds like such a journey to learn more about yourself. I am glad though that it encouraged you to start writing and, and doing more of the novels to tell more stories. I'm sad to hear that someone thinks that no one wants to know the point of view of the spouse of the veterinary professional, it's such a unique vantage point that I, I find very important.

the spouse is the person that's there when we come home every day, and the one who sometimes has to help. my husband's very lucky that I don't work in clinic, so he's not usually having to, clean up, fluids we'll say, from the floor.

Patti Eddington: You didn't have to kick off your suede pumps

Megan Sprinkle: Yes. Yes.

Patti Eddington: Yeah.

Megan Sprinkle: So some advantages there.

But, but yeah, like you're in the thick and thin of things. You see a unique perspective [00:32:00] that, you know, I, I talk about our work face. , Trying to keep straight face and, and try to get through very hard situations, and then we've used up that energy that it takes to do that and then go home, and that's where our family is waiting for us.

And so if we don't have that strong support system, if we don't have the people that we can feel like we are ourselves and, That we wanna go home to, to help us, that's how we make it. So I wanna thank you, for being a spouse of a veterinarian 'cause I, I know that it's probably not the easiest role.

on that note, you said a lot of times you didn't mind, although sometimes in the moment, you know, like it's totally understandable to get upset over something. but, you know, not spoiling the book at all, but what are some of the stories in particular that you wanted to share with the world?

And, the other question I... Sorry, I'm really bad at asking multiple questions at once. I'm also curious to know, [00:33:00] 'cause I think you said you ha- you, you narrowed down the book pretty significantly. How do you decide on the stories to keep and the ones that you had to remove?

Patti Eddington: Luckily, I have, you know, 100 editors who

Megan Sprinkle: Oh.

Patti Eddington: And they would say,

Megan Sprinkle: Oh.

Patti Eddington: I have a, I have a really good friend. He's the husband of a wonderful friend of mine. His name is Donovan, in case he's listening. And poor Donovan, I've put two of his stories in, and both times they tossed them out.

Like, oh. but, yeah, luckily, you know, that you, have people who are reading it too, and... 'Cause, yeah, there's so many more stories, and every once in a while I'll say, "Oh, I forgot. I could have put that one in." Or, Donovan's wife, Becky, said to me, she was one of my early readers, and she said, "You have such a knack of, like, grabbing, parts of a story and then putting it with another story, and maybe it's [00:34:00] not even in the same era or something." But I think all the, those years in journalism, you know, I was able to kind of figure that out. But, The stories that are in the book are pretty much, the family lore. but I did update it a lot. And like I say, The book wouldn't have been the same book had I published it way back when.

I'm really glad that both of those agents said, "No, thank you." and I think, you know, the second one, I, I think he probably realizes that there is, there is stories there. I think it probably still had to come down with platform, and you're not very well known or that kind of thing. I'm with a publishing group called She Writes Press, and it's too much to go into now, but the founder of that did work for one of the Big Seven publishers, and she was dismayed, at how writers who did have a good voice and did have good stories would not have an opportunity to, tell their stories if they didn't have a huge social media platform.

So she's come up with a whole new model. And it was important [00:35:00] to me, it's not important to everyone, and I have absolutely nothing against self-publishing, but it was important to me that someone else said, "We think these stories are worthwhile." and so She Writes gets, I think, a couple thousand, manuscripts a year, and they are selective.

They, they do about 100. that was an important part to me. And then, they have leveled up, and we're now distributed by Simon & Schuster, so it's a really nice wide distribution. But yeah, I, I... see, I've answered so much I forgot what the question was. You, what, what, how did I decide what

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. Yeah,

Patti Eddington: put

Megan Sprinkle: with stories to put in. Yeah

Patti Eddington: the first part of the book is a little bit linear, because I had to give people a starting off point. You know, this is who we are, this is how we met, this is how our first animals and how poor we were. And, and then the, it... This was the hardest thing that I had to do.

A lot of the stories, they could go anywhere. the book isn't necessarily, hey, we started in 1981, and we're, it's, you know, 2026, in [00:36:00] line. you know, I talk about the dogs we've had. Well, that spans decades. but I kinda compartmentalized these are... That chapter's called Houndapalooza. then that naturally followed our dog now. We've always we've always had bigger dogs, and, he was, brought into the clinic by a local shelter because he was, brought to them with a dangling leg, and the leg couldn't be saved. And so it was removed, and he went to live with my daughter, who fostered him, and she sent me a picture, of him, and he's a, terrier cross. small. And she had made him pajamas, and she was holding him, said, "I found your new dog." We were dogless for about nine months after we moved, and our, our greyhound had passed away. and she's like, "Got your new dog. He, right here, here he is." And I'm like, "Oh, he's so cute." And Jim was like, "I would like a big dog." And I said, "He's missing a leg." And, he looked at him and he said, "Oh, why not?" [00:37:00] And the next chapter is called Here's Why Not. our dog now, Dave, als- also known as Damn It Dave. And he is, something else. He's full of personality. so that, that chapter nec- necessarily followed. You know, we've talked about the other dogs and then this.

So the mismashing and where, deciding where to, put things in the book was interesting, and that, the editorial staff at She Writes was so helpful. I have a chapter called, Standing on the Corner Watching all the Squirrels Float By, and it happened a while ago. But, it could go anywhere in the book.

I mean, it's just something that happened to Jim and I. We were taking a walk in our beautiful town, and there were hundreds of squirrels floating down the waterway, And we're like, "what is this from?" and it, the chapters always go on, you know, to talk about something else as well. But, I really had wonderful, editors, and they helped form it.

this book had something called developmental editing. My first book didn't. They said, "Nope." You've done a good job of [00:38:00] putting it in, in order. So this book I'm like, "Oh, they said that the first time. This is gonna be perfect." Well, they said, "No, we think we need a little help on where to, where to put things and what to put in," and that kind of thing.

So, and I'm so glad they did it. They made it such a better book.

Megan Sprinkle: Uh,

Patti Eddington: Right.

Megan Sprinkle: well, the, the other book probably-- 'cause y-you even said, "Because I was a journalist, I had to figure out , what had happened." So it might have had a little bit more of the instinctual journalism, quality to it that maybe it was a little more natural and because, you know, I've talked with several people who have written books, and it is like a whole another experience 

to, create a book like that. 

Patti Eddington: and I like it a lot. I'm not doing it again, but I like it it-- I've learned so much and, you know, when I go to book clubs or I do a talk or I teach some writing workshops, what I find people really wanna hear is like, I'm having two launch parties when the book launches. We're talking at the end of April, and it launches in just a few days, and then I'm having, some book launches. I don't read from my book. I feel like people can read [00:39:00] the book, or have someone read it to them or listen to it or whatever. I try to make it something else and I-- so I follow through with that on everything else I do, and if they really want me to, I will, but I don't really see the point. but what I tell them is, uh, some of the things I've learned, you know?

And of-- books are published on Tuesday, and no one seems to know that, and it's like, why are books published on Tuesday? And I, I, I've gotten so many different stories, I'm not even gonna tell you which one I think is true, but yeah, they, they're on Tuesday. So on Monday nights, bookstores, you know, put out the Tuesday books. and just the little, pieces of information like that, this is one that I think that people always are really astounded by, and I was, but I, I think it's fascinating and I do see the value of it for professional reviews, from, big name reviewers, reviewing organizations. you can do something called a paid review. And I thought, "Well, I don't wanna pay someone to say my book is good." Well, that's not what [00:40:00] it's for. If they don't like it, they're gonna say it. It-- You're not paying for a good review. What you're paying for is if it's a bad review, you don't have to let anyone see it. So people usually like those kind of little pieces of information, you know, that you wouldn't know about publishing.

There's a lot to it, and it's fascinating, and there's some really wonderful, wonderful people in it. So far I haven't ran into the other kind, but I'm sure they're there

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah,

Patti Eddington: too.

Megan Sprinkle: sure. well, I, I think it's so important for people to feel like they can tell their stories, and I do think there's something about veterinary medicine that brings out a lot of really good stories that, as you mentioned, there's a special connection about animals for a lot of people, so they're interested in knowing a little bit more about the people who take care of them.

So, one of the things I wanted to make sure that we touched on is early on when I think you said that, your husband was interviewing for one of his first jobs, if not the [00:41:00] first, and you went to dinner with one of the veterinarians and his wife, and she gave you a piece of advice or, uh, maybe not maybe really advice, It was kind of a warning. and I, I want you to be able to tell that story, and then after You're kind of in this situation, not looking at someone in particular, but any- anything that i- if you are sitting across from the spouse of a, of a veterinarian, what might you say to them?

Patti Eddington: Oh, interesting. Yes, we were-- Jim was, um, interviewing, for a job still in college. I was working at a very, very tiny little weekly newspaper, my first job actually in Cedar Springs, Michigan. It-- That paper doesn't exist anymore. and, you know, working all hours for very little money, and

We had a government-subsidized apartment. we were that poor. And Jim He was an hour and a half away, so he didn't come every night. He slept on friends' couches. He slept in his car. He slept at the clinic. [00:42:00] 'cause he had rotations, and it was always different. So he didn't have a place, a permanent place to live while I was trying to make us a little bit of money. I think I made, I'm not kidding, I think I made like $167 a week or something like that working. You know, it was crazy. but we traveled in his beat-up Chevette to Machias, New York, and it was a beautiful, oh my goodness, such a beautiful setting. 

Megan Sprinkle: It 

Patti Eddington: had nothing to do with who Jim and Patti were.

It was not right for us at all, we were willing to go every- anywhere. they very wisely didn't offer Jim the job because I, I always blamed myself because I remember them talking to me and saying, "You're a journalist. The closest newspaper is in Buffalo, and it's, an hour or something away, but it was, they were a lovely couple. They had a beautiful home. And they hosted a dinner for their staff , for everyone to meet Jim and so [00:43:00] forth. And the, I remember the woman, she was very physically beautiful and she was also just a commanding presence. And as we were cleaning up or something, she took me aside and said, "I just want you to know you're young and you're eager and everything looks all sunny and bright. But what you need to understand is that," and they were a large animal, "one day there's gonna be a cow sick on one side of a fence and you're gonna be sick over here, and he's gonna choose the cow." And I'm like, "Oh, he would never." That's always stuck with me, and I do write about it in the book.

There's a chapter called In the Event of a Zombie Apocalypse, it was our daughter, you know, spheres growing up and how she had intended to deal with zombies in the event that they came, and she was gonna go to the clinic and get the clinic cats and bring them home and make them safe. And, um, I said, "But of course, you know, when a apocalypse really happens, it's not zombies, it's something like a sore foot."

I had, a huge issue with my foot and I couldn't walk, and [00:44:00] ended up having to have surg- I, I was in immense pain for weeks, and the surgery was horrible. And, I say in the book, people see Jim and I, we've been together a long time. We do love each other. We're happy. we have pretty much anything we could, you know, have hoped for in life. But if you think that we've never wanted to run away, you're absolutely wrong. And it was in that, during that period that we had one of our hardest, hardest times, and I, I needed to go to the doctor and Jim couldn't get home to take me to the doctor, and I had to get myself out of the house on a knee walker on icy driveway and get myself to the doctor.

And I'm like, "There's the cow," right? now I understand. in his defense, he sent his office manager to help me, you know, to get me there, and I, I was, "No, I'm not doing it. I'm gonna do it myself." So yeah, it didn't happen too often and I think, I hope that I've been understanding. I can't think of any time that I got mad.

I can think of one time [00:45:00] crying 'cause we wouldn't be able to do something, and one time being disappointed on our b- our daughter's behalf. But for the most part, he got to every dance recital and every swim meet and everything. He, he somehow magically made it work. I wouldn't give that, I wouldn't give that advice.

I mean, it was true, but I don't think that it's always true Know what you're getting into. I guess if you're young, ask the question, if your wife's a veterinarian, say, "So what do you think I can expect?" Do you do emergency calls?" Know, know what it is. at that time in history, so many of us did, you know, emergency calls, and now there are more emergency clinics and so forth, But there's still hard days and long days and frustrating things, and, I know that it's been helpful for me to understand my husband's personality and to know that I don't talk to him first thing in the morning. I got him a coffee cup that [00:46:00] said, "No, no way. Give me a minute. Okay, go." You know, that you can talk. 

And,

I

I would also tell when something's happened, and, he's not telling me 

me. You know,

very rarely If they

rarely if they lose a, if they lose a patient or

something and I can just see when

he comes home. And I think just being aware of what your spouse's 

job is going to entail. Knowing them well enough to

know

and not being afraid to ask for what you need, you

know and say, " you know, I'm,

I'm so sorry that you had a bad day

Can I tell you a little

bit about 

mine 

when we're done talking about yours?" try to take some time to not talk about 

It all the time.

I swear we sit out the, on our deck with a glass of on a Thursday night is our Friday night because Jim doesn't work, 

Friday

 and I and I teach dance fitness

And 

I don't teach on the

weekend 

 And we 

And, still

and almost

every Thursday night

say,

"okay,

no

more , we don't wanna talk about what's going on in the world right now anyway, but let's figure out something else [00:47:00] to talk about," because otherwise we're just gonna take all of this into the weekend with us.

I don't know if that's helpful, but I think that's what I would say. Just be

be sure you know the situation.. 

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. Well, since a lot of veterinary professionals are the ones listening to this, is there something in particular that your husband did really well, that you would maybe encourage other veterinary professionals to do as well with their spouse?

Patti Eddington: with me?

Megan Sprinkle: yes. anything that you think your husband did very well that, either helped your relationship, but also, I guess, you have a good vantage point. Something that you think your husband did very well that allowed him to do a very hard job well. I

Patti Eddington: I think that I can answer that one a little more easily. I

would

I've

had a front row seat

to watching how Jim treats his staff.

he's generous always And understanding. I think the thing that I've been the most impressed [00:48:00] with is that he will say, "If your child is sick and you're here, why are you here?" family is the priority, and it really is. We're going through ano- a nice new phase now. You know, when we were... all of us were young, we have a lot of staff that have been with us for many years, and now we all have grandkids, you know? but, we always had kids around the clinic. And I just, on Facebook, posted a couple weeks ago a picture one of our staff sent us. Jim's completely absorbed in whatever. He's, he's got his scrubs on, his surgical mask here. He's on the computer, and there is a child sitting on top of his desk. It's not our child. It's not our grandchild even. It's, it's one of the other doctor's little boys, and he wasn't feeling well.

And he's sitting on the desk beside Jim on his knees, watching him, and Jim's, like, working and so forth. The response that got... And because you could [00:49:00] just see he was welcome there. I think that's the, the feeling of family and community that Jim has. We had a veterinarian once, and Jim took her child to school many times. and you know, we live in-- The practice is in a town, and school isn't very far away, and she'd have a case or something, and Jim would take him to school and buy him presents when we went on vacation. And our little grandson James came over the other night and he was carrying a stuffed snake, And he was showing it to me, and I'm like, "Where'd you get that, buddy?"

And he said that Xander gave it to him, and Xander's the little boy who was sitting on the, the desk. And he said, " Because, Papa, when we went on vacation, Papa bought Xander and his little brother Leo, he bought them things, and so Xander brought me this." And that's just the kind of guy he is, It's not that there have never been troubles or there haven't been staff members who didn't like us or whatever, but I'll go to my grave saying that that's... he's always been fair and kind to them. I think that's it. And as far as me, he's just-- I think we love each other. We always [00:50:00] have. We've had our moments, but, he gives me really nice gifts, so that doesn't hurt.

Megan Sprinkle: Knowing your love language does help. That's it.

Patti Eddington: Absolutely. We were so poor when we got married. my diamond wedding ring, We picked it out ourselves. but we didn't have... We decided. We're like, "Sh- should we get married? Okay, we should get married." we went and picked it out ourselves, and I think Jim paid for it himself.

I don't think I helped with that. but The night He went and got the engagement ring, and he brought it to me with a red rose- We went to the Michigan State University library and studied. He was still in vet school. It wasn't, you know... And I told that story, uh, we had our 40th wedding anniversary four years ago, on Mackinac Island, which is a place that we love.

And, I surprised him that night and got down on one knee and gave him a ring and proposed again to him because we didn't have that. And we had all of our friends gathered around, you know? but what [00:51:00] he did give me, oh gosh, it's been, I think f- before our 25th anniversary

I opened a present on Christmas morning, and it was a big case of dog food. 

Megan Sprinkle: I'm 

Patti Eddington: like, "Thanks." And he had a, a very nice diamond

Megan Sprinkle: Oh.

Patti Eddington: it, in...

Megan Sprinkle: Aw.

Patti Eddington: my, my new diamond. So he's been very thoughtful and plans nice trips and everything, but mostly it's the little stuff, you know. On a weekend morning when I get up, he'll hear me go in the restroom, and by the time I get out there's a cup of coffee for me. I read a story once about someone who always put toothpaste on their spouse's toothbrush and put it out for them in, in the night, and it's that kind of thing. You know? That little stuff means a whole lot. but the big stuff doesn't hurt.

Megan Sprinkle: Right. Uh, I think those are really good tips too, is,

as we go about out day, no matter what our day looks like

even, you know, me that isn't in a typical clinic setting, we're all very, interested in our work, and we, we tend to work a lot. And [00:52:00] so stopping to think about our significant other the thought really does count, to support each other.

So I think

Oh yeah. It's,

Patti Eddington: that's

you know, pretty easy. He forgot his lunch yesterday, and I didn't have a lot of extra time, but I had time to run him his lunch. You know? T hat little stuff is what

really goes into it, I think. But I... Really sure that couple in New York, had a really nice marriage. I think she just, you know, sh- the cow had been on the other side of the fence too often or something.

Megan Sprinkle: Maybe it was also to let you know that you're not alone. Like, it's, it's, um, this is something that's common, and it, it's not necessarily something that's, personal. It, it's just, it kinda comes with the job.

Patti Eddington: Yeah, definitely. I'm sure they chose the right candidate, and everything happens for a reason, and then you get pushed along and

Megan Sprinkle: Exactly.

Patti Eddington: end up here.

Megan Sprinkle: I always love to end on a, a special question. That's what is something that you're just very grateful for right now? 

Patti Eddington: get up every morning and, [00:53:00] list seven things before I even get out of bed that I'm grateful for, and I try to make 'em different every day. this morning top of that for me was my health. I have a lot of friends who are struggling right now, and I am, you know, worried for them and concerned for them.

And, I just am so grateful that I'm the one that is able to, help them if I can. I'll always be grateful for my family. And, I taught dance, my dance class this morning, and our wonderful class manager, um, we had a friend who had a loss today,

and she said, "You know, I just heard something, and I think it's so important," and I think it is, too. She said, "Whenever we feel sorry for ourselves or whenever we're thinking about our troubles," she said, " think about your friends, the people you know, and if all of their troubles were piled on a table and all of your troubles were piled on a table, would you rather have theirs?" And [00:54:00] most people would say no. You know, maybe it's just 'cause

Megan Sprinkle: we're familiar with our troubles. And I'm grateful

Patti Eddington: For, you know, this book coming out. I've done a lot of podcasts so far, and NPR, and you're the first veterinary professional I've talked to. Everyone else is usually a support person or working in a rescue. And so it's been a, a nice change for me, too, and to hear your questions, and

Megan Sprinkle: Thank you.

Patti Eddington: wish you luck with everything you've got coming up.

Megan Sprinkle: I, I appreciate that, and I encourage everyone to support you, get your book, and learn more. I think we need to keep listening into other perspectives of people who really appreciate what we do too. And I think that was something that you heard too, is that, um, after reading the book, people understood a little bit more about veterinary medicine and, appreciated their veterinarian and their family a little more too

Patti Eddington: Yeah, I have heard that a lot from early readers and, um- lot of the reviewers have said, "Now I'm gonna have a new understanding of what happens, you know, [00:55:00] when I go in or what the cost is and why," There was a woman early on in, our practice who stood in the lobby and yelled across that she wouldn't pay that much for a cat spay to support Dr.

Moore's l- fancy wife and her, their lavish lifestyle. that, and even all those years later, I posted a picture of my Swiffer, and it had, like, electrical tape around to hold the battery in. Could I buy a new Swiffer? Yes. But, was so used to not having that we make do a lot.

We're like, I can fix that," or, "I don't need that," or, you know, that kind of thing. So, you know, when people hear those stories that I end that with her saying, "Lady, let me tell you." You think other people's lives aren't exactly what you think they are all the time.

Megan Sprinkle: . Patti's story is such a good reminder that veterinary medicine is never lived in a vacuum. It affects the people doing the work, the families who love them, and the everyday life that holds it all together. I loved hearing Patti's perspective and the way she captures both the humor and the [00:56:00] heart of a veterinary life well-lived.

Her story is a reminder that there are so many important voices in this profession, including the people who stand just outside the clinic doors and see it all from a different angle. Thank you so much for listening to Vet Life Reimagined. Please share the episode and the podcast and make sure that you're subscribed.

And if you haven't checked out the Substack with the podcast guides, please do. It's the next step to capturing the key takeaways from each episode and applying them to your own life or in a group. Links are always in the show notes. Until next time, let's keep reimagining what's possible in veterinary life