A strange thought came over me a
few minutes before the dentist finished.
Dr. Robinson (Randy) and I have known
each other for more than 25 years now. I first started seeing him when I realized I
needed my own dentist, not the one my parents always took me to.
I was having trouble with a wisdom
tooth back then, not how you hope to meet your new dentist. He ended up pulling three,
quite an introduction. But I liked his style, and technique.
He was a young man, just out of
dentistry school, about the same age as me. His manner was not what I had been
accustomed to from the grandfatherly dentist of my youth.
He knew modern science,
and he was gentle. He listened instead of just doing.
Randy and I have seen each other 3-4
times a year for a quarter century. He got married and raised two kids who now have
families of their own. He is very involved in his local community, volunteering on
a number of civic boards. We talked when I was in his chair.
He treated me when I needed a
bridge, root canals and crowns. That is why I was seeing him today, on a Saturday.
He was putting on a couple permanent crowns he molded two weeks ago.
He was going to do it last Monday,
but it snowed. The lab driver who was supposed to deliver the crowns ran his delivery
truck into a ditch. He wasn't hurt, but I didn't get my crowns.
So Randy came in on a Saturday to
make it up to me. That was just like him. He always put his patients first, and that's
why he is booked solid every single day.
I spent 90 minutes in his chair today ...
talking about the past ... talking about the future ... telling him how poor the
job market is now. I know I'm probably going to have to move ... he knew I was
probably going to have to move.
Just before we finished, it dawned
on me that I might never see Randy again. My next regular appointment wouldn't
be until June and I'm likely to be living somewhere else by then.
You develop a relationship with
someone who puts their fingers in your mouth. There is a mutual trust and respect.
Randy had mine.
How often do we look forward to
seeing a dentist? I hope to see Randy again in a few months ... because it will
probably mean I found work around here.
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