234 : A Little More than Clean Teeth

I had my 6 month dental check up today.  I hated going to the dentist.  I can say that openly because my hygienist knew this.  She (and the practice) had done everything they could to make their patients feel comfortable and welcome in their office.  And I mean everything.  They had music you could listen to.  They offered paraffin treatments for their patients.  But what I'd always enjoyed the most was just talking with my hygienist, Jean.  She was the best.  I'd  been seeing her for at least 10 years, if not longer.  She had that wonderful way of listening to your life situation, providing thoughtful insight and walking away leaving you feeling better for having discussed anything.  Or at least that was how it had always been.  I only saw her every six months so it seemed that a lot had changed every time I saw her.  When I got pregnant with my 2nd child in December of 2011 and fell asleep during my appointment,  I told her I was tired from my first son and working (which was probably also the truth!)  And then I went back to see her in June and I was 8 months pregnant.  I was back again 6 months later in December of 2012 - 1 week or so after my husband had told me he was unhappy.  I didn't speak a word of this at the time because I was still processing it all myself.  And then the following June for my next check up, I was in the midst of a full on divorce.  This poor hygienist loved me and was so sad to hear of my situation.  What did this say about me?  Even my hygienist got it, dammit!  And then only 6 months later brought us to the present and life had seemed to move forward significantly since that last appointment.  I walked in and Jean started to tell me about another client of hers who was in a very similar situation.  Her husband had just told her at Thanksgiving that he no longer wanted to be married.  Jean being the awesome south sider that she was expressed her disgust for said husband as only she could.  She then told me how she had told her client that sadly, she was not her first client who had recently been through this.  Jean was talking about me (of course!) but was professional enough to keep names out of it.   Apparently though, in hearing my story the woman was comforted- so much to the fact that she thought Jean was making me up.  I was thankful I could provide some reassurance during this difficult time and told Jean she could definitely give my name out to her other client.  In fact, before leaving I passed along my blog address.  I couldn't imagine being back at square one and starting this journey all over again.  But I didn't have to.  I had effectively communicated through the blog along the way, so hopefully it would be of benefit to someone else in a difficult spot.  I reminded Jean as I walked out:

Tell her it's get's easier.  Trust me.  It gets easier.