Howdy! I’m Patrick Risch and I am one of the cataract and refractive surgeons at The Eye Center. There are going to be several other posts about cataract surgery and so I will skip that for now. Instead, I’ll spend the time to introduce myself.
I hail from Muskogee, Oklahoma… a place where even squares can have a ball. If you didn’t catch that Merle Haggard reference, do yourself a favor and check him out. While I may be an Okie, all four of my siblings are hogs and my in-laws are as well. So you’ll have to forgive me if I cheer for the Sooners and the Razorbacks. It doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch; the colors are almost the same.
My wife Whitney and I have been in Fayetteville since 2015. In June of 2018, our lives were forever changed by the birth of our new boss, Vera James Risch. We pronounce Vera as they would in Spanish, or like the v-e-r in “very cute.” Which she certainly is, and that may be why you see her modeling sunglasses for The Eye Center. Our family also has a 12-year-old great dane, who has been graciously ignoring comments about how she is “old for a great dane” for the last 5 years of her life.
My daughter is almost 2 years old and so my current hobbies include: blowing bubbles, putting stickers on my nose and elbows, going for walks that don’t make it to the end of the driveway, and bouncing (she loves to bounce as much as Tigger). I also enjoy trying to get my daughter to diversify from the Itsy bitsy spider. We have been listening to bluegrass and folk music. Or as my wife would say, music made by tiny guitars. So far she seems to really like Tom Petty, Railroad Earth, and the Grateful Dead. I’m not so secretly hoping she grows up and learns how to play one of those tiny guitars.
It’s only about an hour and a half to my parent’s place on Lake Tenkiller, where there is plenty of space for my toddler to toddle. She also loves that we have a big family with lots of nieces and nephews for her to play with. Time with family always seems to fly by. There isn’t as much time as there used to be for watersports, but they are a very welcomed summertime activity when we can get to them.
We enjoy going to shows at the Walton Art Center when we have a babysitter. The farmers market is a Saturday staple; it is one of the most wholesome and enjoyable places to burn of energy in town. Fayetteville is a fantastic place to call home and we couldn’t be happier to be surrounded by these seven hills raising our family in the heart and soul of the Ozarks.
Well, that is a little about me and my family. I look forward to the opportunity to get to know you and learn about your activities and hobbies. We can then explore what The Eye Center has to offer to improve your ability to see and enjoy the things that you hold dear.
