Adjustments in Life

The Doctor and the Doll

by Norman Rockwell

All my life I have had dentists, optometrists and doctors who were much older, and it was a source of confidence and comfort when I was younger. After my dentist, a military veteran, retired,  it amused me to see the young dentist who took over his practice,  looks like an 18-year-old. I am sure he is much older than that, but from my vantage, he looks very young.  He is very capable, though. 

 I do miss the stories of my previous dentist, who always had something to say about his experience in the military. He once described it as "hours and hours of sheer uneventful quiet, punctuated by sudden spurts of terror."  I smiled and answered, "That sounds like being a mother!"

I told this young dentist that I had to come in regularly to see if he was growing any older, since I see no signs of age.

I left a good review on the web after my last appointment. I had been quite apprehensive because it was serious surgery and I was relieved that it went well.  Later, when he and his wife saw my husband in the grocery store he told him that if I had any pain or any complications from my recent dental surgery, to be sure and come back in to his office.  Maybe he read my review.

It is still taking some adjustment on my part, to the new kids coming up in the professional world. I do admit they are expert in what they do and besides that, have the advantage of the latest technology and discoveries in the medical world.

The Rockwell painting of the doll doctor, reminds me of a relative who went into the doll-repair business. He and his wife had a little shop, where they repaired and sold old dolls they bought, many of them valuable antiques.  He wore a white jacket with a name tag, which said "D.D.S."  meaning, "doctor of doll surgery.  He replaced many an eye and fixed numerous joints on the jointed dolls, and even replaced hair.  

One day he had to visit his mother-in-law who was in the hospital, so he left right after work, wearing his jacket and doll surgery name tag.  As he left her hospital room and was walking down a long hall, someone stopped him and asked him if he would check on their mother, too.  He said he would, and he did. Someone who was also visiting asked him to visit someone else on the same floor of that hospital. He had a hard time getting out of there because people thought he was a "real" doctor.