By Jim Hagarty
I am not good at goodbyes and I’m terrible with change.
I’m still trying to get over being forced to leave Grade 8. But I finally gave in. I had no choice. So I hopped in my car and drove home.
But I have noticed that the only thing that never changes is that everything always changes (that is my own expression, thought up in my own tiny brain but you are free to use it providing you send me $5 every time you do.)
In any case (the previous bunch of words being the equivalent of putting filler in hamburger), I said all that to say this: I had to say farewell to my family doctor of almost 15 years recently and that was hard. I got a little choked up as I left the building and walked to my car.
And this is why I liked him so much. He knew every one of us old fogies all too well. His name is Dr. D. Thompson. Guess what the name of the new doctor is. Dr. D. Thompson.
Yes, as we shook hands goodbye, he said to me that he wanted to make sure he found someone with the same name to take over so it wouldn’t be too much of a shock to his patients who don’t like change. Well, not exactly the same. His name is Douglas and the new guy is David, but close enough.
I thanked him for all he had done for me and my wife and our son and daughter and he smiled and said, “You get what you give.”
I’m going to hang onto that as soon as I figure out exactly what he meant by it.
I never left his office without a compliment from him on my writing. “So how’s your wandering mind?” he’d ask, and smile.
When your doctor is sitting in your cheering section, it’s easier to dunk the ball.
