Danielly

Every once in a while, someone walks into your life who changes it forever.

For me, that person is Danielly.

Six years ago, she came into our lives as my nanny. Graham was just a baby. Somewhere along the way, she stopped being "the nanny”. She became family. We joke that she's my baby daddy because, quite honestly, she's probably spent more time helping raise my children than their own father ever has.

She's been there for scraped knees, school pickups, bedtime routines, soccer games, tears, laughter, and all of the ordinary moments that make up a childhood.

My kids don't just love her. They need her. And she loves them like they're her own.

Danielly and I have always worked in a way that's hard to explain. We just... fit. Sometimes I wonder what our DISC profiles would look like because I honestly think we'd be perfectly matched. We instinctively know what the other person needs before it's even spoken. She fills in the gaps I don't even realize are there.

Over the years she's become so much more than my coworker. She's my confidant. My therapist. My sounding board. The person I call when life falls apart. The person who tells me the truth even when it's not what I want to hear. The person I know will always have my back. That kind of loyalty is incredibly rare.

When I decided to open Veterinary Vision Specialists, there was never really a question about whether she'd be part of it. It was just the two of us. We sat on the floor of my home office surrounded by notebooks, boxes, laptops, and takeout containers, calling vendors, comparing software, designing workflows, ordering equipment, and dreaming about what VVS could become.

Before there were exam rooms...

Before there were employees...

Before there were clients...

There was just us.

On surgery days, she even helped with anesthesia because there wasn't anyone else. We built Veterinary Vision Specialists together from the ground up. Every success we've celebrated has been something we created side by side.

And if you've ever complimented VVS' social media, you've really been complimenting Danielly. She's the creative mind behind the beautiful posts, the photos, the videos, and the personality of VVS that so many people have come to know and love. She has an incredible gift for telling our story, and she's made our little practice feel personal, welcoming, and authentic from day one.

Now, while I'm fighting leukemia, she's carrying an unimaginable load. She's keeping VVS alive. She and Kenzie are coordinating relief doctors. She's managing our staff with Kenzie. She's fielding calls and messages from hundreds of people who want updates. She's helping organize my life. And somehow, she's still showing up for my kids.

If someone needs to know which doctor one of the kids sees...Danielly knows. If someone needs a school form...Danielly knows where it is. If someone needs to know the kids' schedules...Danielly already has them memorized.

She has become one of their fiercest protectors. She knows every challenge our family has faced, and she loves my children with the same protective, mama-bear heart that I do.

People often ask me how I've managed to keep everything together through this diagnosis.

The truth is..I haven't. Danielly has been holding up pieces of my world that would have otherwise fallen apart. I don't know how to thank someone for that. How do you thank someone who has given your children stability... Helped build your dream... Carried your business... Protected your family...And somehow still manages to make you laugh every single day? I don't think you can.

I just know that my life, and the lives of my children, are immeasurably better because she's in them.

She started as my nanny. She became my office manager. But those titles don't come close to describing who she is. She's family. Always will be.