I have spent part of the last week or so planting flowers, wondering if there is any possible way to bottle the joy that comes with that activity. There is something to be said for the surprise that comes with taking last year’s container and filling it with annuals that didn’t exist six weeks ago. And to know that just the basics are required ... sun, shade, water, a bit of pruning ... to achieve glorious color.
With this, my fourth column, I feel a bit like a flower. The “sun” provided by Suzanne Mann, RDH, who wrote to tell me of her experiences with a women’s group while temping in Colorado, gave me a warm feeling and a mild feeling of inadequacy. This energetic woman has been a hygienist for 40 years and has worked in 60 offices. She recognized long ago that she enjoyed the challenge that comes with working in a variety of offices in a variety of states (yes, she travels!) and had this to say about herself and women in general. “... I knew my power did not lie in my sexuality or my brains or my looks. It lay in the power I have as a woman to nurture, comfort, hold, rock, and quiet the unsettled in my world. Women and how they feel are the most powerful engines on earth.” When life seems too tame, think of Suzanne and the sun she brings to people’s lives.
The “shade” provided by Yvonne Hanley, DDS, who wrote to tell me that her life paralleled mine in so many ways, reminded me that I am not in a “garden” by myself. She wrote that she, too, was a dental assistant, a hygiene graduate, did a one-year GPR, and has been on the Pankey Institute faculty for 15 years while working full time in her practice that she shares with a partner. She told me that I was “sort of preaching to the choir” in writing for Woman Dentist Journal ... somewhat on the theory that anyone reading this is already an intelligent, intuitive woman, but it was her comment about employees that really made me think while planting my flowers. “Being an employer has always been a challenge, but in retrospect I can say that watching employees grow into all they can be is one of the most rewarding parts of my practice.” Can you imagine growing under the care provided by the shade Yvonne would bring?
There is nothing like a good splash of “water” to revive the spirit and provide a little boost when one needs it the most. The flower in me needed the water provided by our editor, Lori Trost, DMD. She wrote a lovely note telling me I would survive the necessary “pruning” given by Vicki Cheeseman, our associate editor. If flowers feel pain, then I know what it is like to remove petals past their prime or judiciously trim growth that is too unwieldy ... my articles have been snipped and cut! I must admit, though, that my column looks wonderful under the careful care provided by Vicki, so yes, Lori is right. I will survive to write another column!
As in most cases, the sun, the shade, the water, and yes, even the pruning are all necessary parts of the growth process, and if not provided out of love or affection (as with family and friends) are provided as part of the nurturing process so inherent in women. It is my Idle Thought that with the help of the Suzannes, Yvonnes, Loris, and Vickis in my life, I will grow enough over the summer to achieve glorious color! Join me in the flowering process, and find your own gardeners to help you along the way. See you in September. ■
Sharon Szeszycki
Dr. Szeszycki is a graduate of the dental hygiene program at Southern Illinois University, a BS graduate of the dental hygiene program at Loyola University, and a graduate of the Loyola University School of Dentistry. She has been actively involved for more than 10 years with the Mediation and Peer Review Committees of the Chicago Dental Society. A full-time co-partner in a general dentistry practice in Lombard, Ill., she may be contacted at [email protected].
