Date Night and Toast Crumbs

By Justin Padgett

Auburn University

                I was at work on a Friday afternoon when I received the call. I picked up my cell phone to answer a number I didn’t recognize only to hear a lady on the line say, “Justin, this is Kaye from Auburn University.”  I felt my stomach drop and for the next few seconds all I remember is a smattering of words like “accepted” and “see you in August.” I ended the call, took a deep breath and immediately went to my boss’ office and told him something had come up and I needed to take the afternoon off. I headed home, spent a while in deep thought and thankfulness, and then told my wife the great, life changing news.

                Since I had missed being accepted the year before I had convinced myself I needed to singlehandedly develop a cure for cancer before I would be accepted in vet school! I had taken this thought and settled into a pretty good life with my wife as we had recently bought a house and taken steady jobs. That being said, I knew that vet school truly would truly be a huge change for us. My wife would have to transition from loving partner to sugar momma as she supported me while I headed back to school. We had to come up with a plan to make the next 4 years of education work as smoothly as possible.

                We decided to not sell our house, for my wife to keep her excellent job as a teacher, and for me to look for a place to live in Auburn during the school week. We only lived one hour away so we thought this just might work. My wife had a cousin, Laura, that lived in Auburn so we knew she would be a great resource to help us nail down a place for me to rent for the school year.

                We called Laura that day and told her our situation. I needed a cheap place to live and possibly a roommate who could help split the bill for rent. To our great surprise, Laura didn’t hesitate to offer her own house as a place for me to stay. I fought this for a few minutes, knowing that Laura had two small boys to take care of and a third child on the way. I certainly didn’t want to add to her burden and be a fourth child for her.  She persisted though, assuring me that I would be no trouble because she wasn’t going to be doing my laundry! I then figured I couldn’t possibly turn down a great place and a great family to live with.

                It all was falling into place. That is when I realized how family had impacted not only my journey to gain acceptance but that family was what I would rely on to get me through the rigorous curriculum ahead. I now had an encouraging wife beside me and a new family that welcomed me into their home. 

                Before I left, my wife, Karen, and I set to work on some strategies to help us get through the next few months. We had heard the warning that two things happen to people in vet school – they find out they have ADD and they get divorced! Well, the latter option was indeed no option for us so we consulted a few married friends that were in vet school and came up with a plan to make sure we were there for each other. We decided to make Friday night “Date Night,” that we would talk to one another at least once a day, and that we would always try to pump one another up and stay positive.

                After feeling good about mine and Karen’s plan I headed off to live with my new weekly family. I remember the first few days pretty clearly. The boys were a bit skeptical of this guy coming in their house every night. They were more than friendly but it seemed they didn’t really catch on about why I was there all the time. I knew they didn’t mind me being there though because they would ask, “Mr. Justin, can you spend the night again tonight?”  I also don’t think they knew (or cared) about how I was related to them. One of the boys kept asking me about my sister that had been to their house before. I asked him who he was talking about and he said, “You know…that blonde lady that’s been to our house with you.” I had to tell him that was my wife!

                The year following that week went great. I grew close to the family that welcomed me into their home even though I rarely saw them. I kept late hours and got up early, as all vet students are accustomed to, but the times our paths did cross were always great.

                The boys were always entertaining - wanting me to play games with them or check out the new level on the video game they had reached. I particularly liked when Silas, the older of the two boys, would talk about all the things he had learned in school that day. He went on about history and science and then he quizzed me on all the things I had learned about animals while I was in class. This was a great review of the day’s notes for me.

                One of my best memories from living with Laura and her family actually came when I was at my groggiest. As I mentioned before, Laura was expecting her third child, and by time I had been at their house for about a month she was ready to pop. About midnight one September night I was woken up with a loud knock on my bedroom door. I knew something serious was going on and I jumped out of bed. For some reason the first thing that popped in my head was that they needed help with their diabetic cat. My sleepy mind was running over all the things we had learned about diabetes before I realized Laura just wanted me to move my truck and get out of her way. She was having a baby! 

                I ran downstairs without thinking another thought, moved my truck and ran back inside. It wasn’t until I was back inside that I realized I only had my underwear on. This wouldn’t have been that big of a deal since it was the middle of the night but the preacher’s wife from our church had arrived to help with the boys and was standing in the kitchen! I said my hellos while in my skivvies then ran up to bed.

                Another great memory I have from the family is all the great advice I would receive from the younger of the two boys, Elliott. He was always up and at ‘em in the morning, ready for me to play Legos with him but he never got too disappointed when I said I had to head to school. He would just ask me if I had a test that day and if I did he would utter these immortal words of wisdom, “If you see the right answer and you know it’s right, pick that one.” I couldn’t go wrong with that advice. 

                I also remember thinking how much privacy I had while I lived with this busy family. I never really cared if the boys went in my room but they always seemed to stay out while I was gone. I figured Laura had instructed them to stay out of the room; either that or they were pretty good at covering their tracks. I kept thinking this until one Monday night in April I crawled into bed after being away for the weekend. I felt scratchy things all in the sheets and just couldn’t get comfortable. I looked around the bed for the offensive objects and found a bunch of toast! Apparently one of the boys had used my bed as a breakfast table that weekend or they were trying to hint that I had worn out my welcome!

                Karen and I missed each other a ton during the week but we kept to our Friday night Date Night routine. We found cheap things to do like rent Red-Box movies or take the dog on a walk. All of a sudden these little things meant a whole lot more since we were apart so much.  These were the kinds of things that kept me sane. 

                A lot of great encouragement came from Karen in times that were out of routine. I received several cards from her that I never expected.  When they arrived in the mail they always had words to pick me up and help me study a little bit longer. I also came home during the week whenever possible and tried to surprise her with these visits. 

                My first year ended with great success. Karen and I were able to avoid one curse of vet school and we are going strong. I am certainly very fortunate to have such great family to help me get through a tough curriculum. I enjoyed my time with Laura’s family and soaked up the times I had with Karen. It is a humbling thought when you know you have accomplished something great but you also know you could not have done it by yourself.