Parker County Today September 2017 | Page 74

C Caitlin Macrae — Parker County Committee On Aging 72 aitlin Macrae has packed a lot of living into her 27 years. She’s a certified emergency technician, and has been to nursing school, until recently, when she decided she wanted to fight fires instead of nursing people back to health. At first, she didn’t think she could handle the rigors of firefighter training school, but those that knew her said, “If there’s any girl that can do it, you can.” After she graduates from fire school, she wants to become a govern- ment contractor and serve as an EMT and fire- fighter in the Middle East for a few years. It won’t be the first time she’s been to that area of the world. She is also a veteran who served as a U.S. Marine for four years. Now she supports veterans by raising money through body-building competitions benefitting a char- ity called Make-a-Vet Sweat. It uses the funds it raises to pay for gym memberships for veterans, some of whom might be suffering from PTSD, while helping others get back to the gym and physical fitness. She raised just under $10,000 and placed second in both categories in the latest competition. For the past seven years, she has served as bar manager at Vintage Grill and Car Museum. Although she has attended many of our bach- elor and bachelorette events in the past working with Vintage, being a bachelorette will be a new experience for her. “Now I’m on the other side of things,” said Macrae. “I’m really excited to see how much Aaron and I can do together. I want to raise a lot of money and change some lives,” she added. Going back to daytime hours after she leaves Vintage will really be a change for her. “I’m hoping to read books again and maybe even buy a TV,” she said. While attending school, she will be teaching hot yoga classes at Pav Yoga on the Weatherford Square. She enjoys the sense of community that Parker County gives its residents, and one of the things she really enjoys is reading in the park. “With so many events and charities, there’s really a lot of things going on in Parker County,” she said. Giving back and serving is something that was instilled in Macrae from a young age. With her roots in Northern California, she and her family found a way to serve around the holidays by working at soup kitchens or other places for people in need. “At least one holiday a year we would go and do that,” she said. She’s look- ing forward to working with the Parker County Committee on Aging and maybe meeting other veterans as she visits the Senior Center. “They are a special breed for sure.”