Ashley Gabrielle and Theresa Yaukey met me for lunch at the Elks a few months ago. Ashley was craving a burger and Theresa didn't have much time to spare in her schedule so we settled on the place we knew had good food, fast. I learned a lot of about both women during our brief luncheon and wanted to pass on a little of that information.

Ashley is small in stature but that's about it. Originally from Philadelphia, she is a force to be  reckoned with. She attended Penn State, State College for undergraduate and moved into the Penn State Dickinson School of Law. Anyone who attended the Franklin County Bar Association induction in 2010 would remember the long list of accomplishments Ashley's father read aloud as he presented her to the Bench. Ashley applied several places before accepting the job here at Franklin County Legal Services on November 15, 2010. Yep. She knows her exact start date.

Ashley makes quite the commute to be here in Franklin County at FCLS. She lives in Camp Hill and has about one hour in each direction, during rush hour no less, to and from work. According to Ashley, she wouldn't have it any other way. The commute gives her a little "me" time before she heads home to be wife to Michael and mother to Mikey.

Ashley loves her job at FCLS and believes that it's a good fit for her, her personality and the goals she had when she first set out to be an attorney. There were no complaints about the office, co-workers or her boss but it should be noted that during this interview Mahesh Rao was only a few tables over. Although he appeared to be deeply engrossed in reading his Kindle, you never really know, right?

You apparently can take the girl out of Philly but not the Philly out of the girl. Ashley admits that she craves her favorite hoagie from Lee's Hoagie House: "A Kosher". Go ahead and ask Ashley. Back when Ashley was in State College, her mother would ship her the hoagies from time to time. At first I couldn't believe that she loved a hoagie that much she had it shipped, but being a city-girl whose parents still send her everything bagels from New York, I could completely relate.

Theresa Yaukey is a "newer" attorney at MidPenn Legal Services although she actually started with MidPenn in 2004 as an intern and then later as a volunteer. Theresa began officially with MidPenn Legal Services on July 5, 2011 and seems content to remain where she is. She is very happy with Franklin County, our Bar Association, MidPenn and her roles and responsibilities. Theresa admitted that in law school, family law wasn't really an area she cared to explore any further than the necessary prerequisites to graduate which is ironic given the heavy case load of family law matters handled each year by MidPenn. Theresa was certainly not complaining, however, agreeing with Ashley that it is definitely an area of the law that will always have a high need for legal service attorneys and if that is part of the job, they are certainly dedicated to providing those legal services.

 Theresa actually started out as a local, having been born in Waynesboro and remaining here until she was 14. After college, Theresa moved back and worked (full-time!) at First Data through law school at Penn State Dickinson School of Law. During this time, Theresa was married to her husband, Curtis who works at our local AT&T Kiosk at Chambersburg Mall while studying for his MBA through Shippensburg University. Theresa mentioned the obvious benefit to this is the accessibility to iPhones and iPads because of her husband's employee discounts, which was received with much envy from Ashley and me.

Theresa has made a home for pets which have been rescued from uncertain futures. First is the lab-shepard mix she adopted from Antietam Animal Rescue in 2005, Butchy (please don't make the mistake I did of spelling that with an "ie" because that's a "little girly for him" according to Theresa). Theresa also has a New Zealand Rabbit named Cleo she adopted in 2004. Somehow the conversation got around to the sad demise which Cleo may have met had she not been rescued. Much to our horror, Cleo's breed is quite often referred to as a "meat bunny". Yep. You read that right. Needless to say, Theresa is of the opinion as most of us are that these pets truly know that they have been rescued from some horrible fate and the bond is indescribable. Ask Theresa about the true loves of her life and she will respond "My dog and my rabbit-but my husband already knows this and he's totally OK with it."