10/04/2019
It's with mixed emotions that I announce Betsy Harrison's retirement here on my office's page.For those facebook addicts,this is probably old news, but for me, I'm still getting used to the idea. You see, Betsy has worked at 1038 National Highway for over 28 years.We have tried to work as a team for those many years and she can be very proud of what we have accomplished together.I have always tried to do the best work with the newest and most innovative ideas over the years. Just this past week an elderly gentleman, revisited my office. He was having trouble with a loose denture. He had not seen me for 25 years. We had placed implants under that denture, and there they were still as firmly stuck into his strong jaw like it had just been done yesterday. That is not such a big thing now( I see some offices in the area advertising now that they do this procedure) but that was 25 years ago,quite a feat in those early days of implantology. Anyway, I learned the techniques and Betsy learned what she had to do to hold up her end of the bargain as my assistant........ always a half step ahead of me.When that curmudgeonly old gentleman came down off the farm for his 25 year visit, he said hello to me in his gruff voice; Oh, he knew my name.It's on the door. But he also said,"Hello Betsy".Hers isn't.
If you know Betsy, you know she is an early riser.When I walked in the door every day for 28 plus years,everything was always ready. Always rarin' to go. That is her nature. She loves her coffee, but, dear God, don't give her two cups. Her feet don't touch the floor and, of course, as you can imagine,it never affected the muscles necessary for speech. Betsy always is neat with her appearance, neat with her work and equally fastidious in her dedication to detail.
It's like one of our patients said in his Long Island accent and then with his subsequent loud laugh,"You see her more than you do your wife." Betsy always talked to me about many things. Especially since she had my ear for thousands of patients,over the 56 thousands hours not counting lunches and continuing ed.(Yes,I counted.) One of her topics was that I worked too much and that i needed to travel more and see new things.Do it before I was to old.Well Betsy, you now can practice what you preach. You have a lot of gas left in that tank so get out there and do some of those things you have been wanting to do. I expect postcards.
We will miss her and I do expect she will smile to herself when she thinks of us stuck within the confines of these four walls that has been much of her life for the past three decades. However, I do have her number on speed dial and she has promised to answer the phone when we can't find something or don't know where to order dental necessity. I expect and hope we will see her from time to time even if it is just for her to rub it in.
Betsy please be very proud of what you have accomplished. We have made a lot of people's lives better. We have made them "Look Better and Feel Better". From a simple filling on a scared child to getting picked up by my old four wheeled drive truck at 2:00 a.m. in a driving snow storm to take a lady nearly berserk with pain to our office to achieve a painless root canal,we have achieved great things. Orthodontics on three generations of patients. Transforming a face so that that person can smile with no concern for the first time in their life. Rebuilding a car-wrecked face. Helping to get rid of that headache that had just persisted for hours, not for days not for weeks but years.Yes we have accomplished a lot working as a team. You have helped me implement ideas that were years ahead of the mainstream on many different occasions. You've used all that energy to help people and help me. Yes, please take pride in what we have done, but also for me and for yourself, take a big sigh of relief.
CONGRATULATION'S BETSY ON YOUR RETIREMENT!!!
