Saved by the Book – Patch.com

Is it wrong, that for me, the Dodgers' last World Series Championship seems like yesterday? Well, it doesn't. I'm a Giants fan.

But, in 1988, I saw a film that couldn't have possibly been released 32-years ago. And maybe that's why most of my dental co-workers and youngster patients under fifty don't know what I'm talking about when I reference Hannah and Her Sisters. These days, I tend to minimize writer/director/actor Woody Allen because he's done some questionable stuff off the screen for the past three decades or so (although today, it wouldn't necessarily disqualify his hypothetical presidency.)

Anyway, in Hannah, Woody's hypochondriac character (Mickey) goes in for a routine medical exam, volunteers a history of occasional ringing in one ear, and winds up experiencing every conceivable clinical test short of exploratory surgery. Leading up to medical judgment day, Mickey's convinced he has a brain tumorbut the news is good. The favorable diagnosis leads to celebration, then a mortality accounting, and finally the pursuit of a religion with the best afterlife option.

The romantic comedy is complex; it deals with every combination and permutation of infidelity involving three sisters and their families during the span of consecutive Thanksgivings; the movie questions relationships and life itself. But when all is said and done, Mickey takes his favorite niece to the movies and a revival showing of the Marx Brothers in the farcical film, Duck Soup. Mickey has a breakthrough. While sharing the laughs and appreciating Groucho and his brothers, Mickey discovers the meaning of it all. Life is to be enjoyed, not understood.

And, what does all this Hannah stuff have to do with me? Everythingbut with no infidelity and only a few medical tests.

The past year has been a challenge. Still not Grand Marshall of the Camelia Parade; but there's more. I went to renegade USC. And I own a small business. Hear me whine. And it's confounding that even when you love your family and love serving people you see as family, life can still get in the way, cause distraction, and inspire reflection (for me, very hard work.)

Because my own family and aunts and uncles are no longer with me and even though my co-workers didn't apply for the job, my dental team is my family. Two of my family (who combine for about 40-adoption years) have been missing in action for around 70% of the time over the last 15-months; we've missed 'em.

And then there's the outside stuff and the usual suspects. Because of a lesson my dad taught me about saying something good or nothing at all, I won't identify our property manager. Underwriters regrettably remain part of my life. VP Pence is the new Epidemiologist in-Chief, but he believes in shock therapy, not science. And a viral plague is killing people, investments, and maybe even economies (btw, the masks are for sick people.) I've seen every recent movie except Little Women. Sometimes the stuff you can't control can get you a little down. Saturday morning, I took a call from my ace dental assistant; and on hello, she wondered if I was doing okay.

Does anyone else out there ever have an occasional It's a Wonderful Life George Bailey moment?

But, last night, an exceptional woman next door (no nieces) and I toured Downtown LA on foot, enjoyed a meal, and joined a full house that was roaring with laughter at the Ahmanson, watching the hilarious and totally politically incorrect Book of Mormon (coulda been Duck Soup.)

I've been an oral health care provider for a few decades; I do know a few things. I appreciate smiles are a gift and I realize laughter is powerful medicine. And our practice's purpose will always be making dentistry funno matter the usual suspects.

And yeah, life is meant to be enjoyed, not understood.

See the article here:
Saved by the Book - Patch.com