I was checking out with the dentist yesterday – though the old dentist, Ellis, is now on a mission in S. Africa, something he forgot to do when he was young, he says, so off he and Glenda went.
Richard knows the new dentist, Dr. Holmes, for they met when Richard had an accident with a tooth last year.
At any rate, I was making a cheque out to Laurie, the receptionist at the front desk, and asked how many years she had been there. She said 25. I said, "Well, if Ellis were here I would be bugging him about giving you a gold watch."
"Don’t worry," she said. "At 20 years he gave me this nice watch and one for Marilyn too" and she flashed her lovely wrist watch in front of my eyes and signalled to Marilyn behind the glass window to show me hers as well.
They were both obviously pleased. I said, "You have a long history with Ellis". She said, "I used to be his assistant. How are your kids?"
I said, "You must know them all, having worked on everyone’s mouth." She said, yes, and then could ask about you all by name.
She said, "You may not remember who I was then, but I was the one by his side."
I thought, "Well, I was so full of fear in that office that I had my eyes closed and was gritting my teeth most of the time. So I wouldn’t have known that the woman of 20 years at his side, was now the one at the front desk." I had listened to her expaining something to one of the patients at the front desk previous to my conversation with her and had thought, "My gosh, she is talking like she has a lot more information about how that plaque can get up under a molar and cause decay and it is not the fault of the dentist who put the crown on, etc. – she is saying all of that with a lot more surety than I would think a receptionist would or could." But I didn’t think much more about it as I was sitting waiting for my turn with the dental technician.
"You know Ellis as well as you know anyone," I continued with our conversation.
She said, "Yes, and I have loved my job for all of those years. Besides, he gave me lots of child-raising advice. Good advice."
"What kind?" I asked.
"No nonsense advice," she smiled.
I said, "Oh, Ellis had his beliefs, good ones, but he has had to change many of them over the years. Soften. Accommodate. He has had to move as all of us have."
This time she said nothing. Only stared at me. A look of recognition that we were on a far deeper topic than the casual one with which the conversation had begun.
Then she nodded and said, "Yes. We have all had to change."
I said, "Me, more than anyone else. My kids mostly don’t come around to my way of thinking, and in many cases I could see that it was they and not me who were right."
She nodded again, I stood there for a while. Both of us quietly nodding together.
So I wish a specific few of you reading, a Merry Christmas from Laurie. She would probably add a wish for continued good dental health along with seasonal greetings.
And a grand scale Merry Christmas from me to all of the rest of you.
Best wishes for happiness in the season and for joy in the year to come. Best of the season to all of you: the peace makers, the merry makers, even the trouble makers.
I wouldn’t have wanted to have missed one minute of knowing you.
Love,
Arta
Ditto!
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