Holly talks about what it’s like to be one half of a health care power couple in Columbia.
How did you meet?
We were set up on a blind date by Dr. Jeff Parker.
What was your first date?
He picked me up in his old Chevy Blazer and handed me a “post-test gift” — it was in a brown paper bag with the chemical structure of acetaminophen drawn on it — because I had just taken a chemistry test. He took me to Murry’s.
What keeps you busy during the week?
Work, and we both serve on some boards in Columbia: Commerce Bank and The Wind Institute for me.
What’s it like to work together?
It doesn’t happen too often, but I do have a lot of patients who come to me because their parents know or know of Charles. They have said to me, “I know he’s brilliant, so he would marry a smart woman, and so I picked you as my pediatrician.” Both being at Boone Hospital together is great, as we have many overlapping colleagues.
What interests or excites you about working in the health care field?
The return on my investment. If I do this well, my little patient can live 100 more healthy years!
What is the best quality of your partner?
Patience.
What do you like to do in your free time?
Run, Peloton, swim, read, Netflix, play with my dogs, and travel (Ew! COVID!) to see my kids.
What is your favorite art/culture activity in Columbia?
I have always loved Art in the Park. Does the Columbia Farmers Market count?
What are some of your favorite outdoor activities?
Well, that would be fishing on Lake of the Woods in Canada, skiing, or hiking the mile trail Charles contoured on our 32 acres (with the dogs).
What is your favorite restaurant in Columbia?
Hard one . . . Sycamore, Flyover, Cherry Street Cellar, Murry’s.
What is the key to a lasting and healthy relationship?
Get away from the grind sometimes, even if it’s dinner and a movie or just a hike around our property.
What is unique about your relationship?
We have always been independent of each other. I mean, we can go days without seeing each other due to schedules or work, but we still depend on each other for even little things. I do the laundry, but I cannot use the air compressor to pump up a tire. That’s all Charles.
What does the future hold for the two of you?
We do not even talk about retirement. We love our work too much. But we do hope to travel more, even if it’s just spending all summer on our island in Canada. The land was sold as a homesteading act years ago — his grandfather bought a 3-acre island for $150 — so we have a cabin there now, and it is heaven.
What has been your favorite project to work on together?
Raising our children.
What brought you both to Columbia?
College for me, residency for Charles (we met just like in Grey’s Anatomy).
