Hollister resident Vickie Carte loves her cat so much, they’ll
stay together for eternity.
Hollister resident Vickie Carte loves her cat so much, they’ll stay together for eternity.
“I’m taking her to the grave with me,” she said jokingly.
Carte got her friendly feline, Baby, from the Hollister Animal Shelter and loves her so much, she tattooed Baby’s likeness on her leg.
The name Baby is quite fitting for the cat, according to Carte. In the past few years, both Carte’s children, Ann, 22, and David, 28, have grown and left the house, leaving her four-legged friend as the only one of her babies left at home.
“Everyone always says ‘I’ll be glad when my children are out of the house,’ but now that they’re gone, it’s just way too quiet,” she said.
Carte moved to Hollister nearly 18 years ago. She, her husband David and their toddler David were living in a two-bedroom house in San Jose. When she found out she was pregnant with her daughter, the family realized they needed to move into a bigger home. After hearing about the schools in Hollister, they decided this was the place.
“I like Hollister because the education is superb, it has a small town feel and everything is close,” she said. “I remember when we first moved here, all there was by our house was a big open field, but now there are houses everywhere.”
One thing about San Benito County Carte doesn’t like is her commute to work everyday on Highway 25.
“I just wish everyone would be more careful when driving on that road,” she said.
While she may not like the drive, Carte does get a sweet treat everyday when she arrives to work in Gilroy. As assistant manager of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Carte has tasted just about every piece of chocolate, caramel and butter cream filling there is. Her tasty knowledge helps her give customers what they want.
“Everybody always comes in and asks ‘well what’s your favorite?'” she said. “This way I can tell them, and I always say the caramel apples.”
After a long day’s work dipping cherries in chocolate, slicing fudge and dunking marshmallows in caramel, Carte returns to Hollister to sit on her porch, sip a glass of wine and enjoy time with her husband. The couple just celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary in Disneyland.
Carte said the secret to her 30 years of happiness is “being honest, loyal and sharing everything with your spouse.”
