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"Welcohness It’s an honor to have you here today!" An older man in a pristine doctor’s coat shookhe’d taken a lot of time to oofy grin on his face, I was instantly charmed "I’m Dr McRae"

"A pleasure" I shook his hand "I’m sorry to arrive on such short notice"

"Completely understandable, ma’am" He bobbed his head "I was sorry to hear about your assistant"

"Catherine, please, and thank you" I sether"

"Oh! Yes, that would be wonderful" He turned and stood next to me, his hands held in front of hi the inside Thankfully there were only two photographers inside and they werethe plaque

"It’s over here, ma’am" The veterinarianto do this It’s an honor"

A red velvet cloth covered an easel, and the staff and their faathered around in anticipation

Ion the opposite side of the plaque and waited, s at the cameras as people took my picture or video

"I’m humbled to have Princess Catherine here today to help celebrate this huge achievement I owe my staff and their family a million thanks for all they’ve done for the animal community" He smiled around the room as people clapped "Even without the plaque, I hope you all know the aood you’ve done this year"

I clapped with the rest of the roo The amount of man-hours they had put into their community orth nized

"I’m honored to be in a room with so many kindhearted people I know that what you’ve done to help these animals and their families was a labor of love that required a lot of sacrifice on your part So on behalf of ed the cloth from the plaque in one fell swoop and rolled it up in my arms

People oohed and aahed People clapped And of course there were more pictures I posed with everyone and took the time to shake the hands of the staff I ate little sandwiches and drank tea Not once did I glance at my watch to check the time, despite my desire to be with my friend By the time Tabitha finally came to rescue me, I had been at the veterinary clinic for four hours It wasn’t that I regretted the time spent with the people and it wasn’t as if I hadn’t enjoyed talking with everyone

But I had a friend in the hospital, with no faet back to her was pressing on ot back in the car

"That ell" Tabitha slad to see you"