Impressions
around and constant .
Changes by Dr . Stephen T . Radack III , Editor
Changes seem to be everywhere I look in the last month or so .
Just like the songs from David Bowie (“ Changes ”), Eric Clapton (“ Change the World ”), John Mayer (“ Waiting on the World to Change ”), Expose (“ Seasons Change ”) and many more , change is all
Since Memorial Day , Mary and I have been able to spend lots of time with our daughters and grandsons . That May holiday weekend , Cassie and her husband Eric came from Annapolis to Erie with Will ( 6 ), Tommy ( 3 ) and Jack ( 1 ). As you can imagine , the house quickly sprung back to life for two empty nesters . Oh , and don ’ t forget the dog , too . We had just seen them a month earlier , but it ’ s amazing how much children change in a short amount of time !
Two weeks later , we all traveled to Wilmington , N . C . for our younger daughter Stephanie ’ s wedding . It was great to have the entire extended family together for this momentous event . Not only was this a big change for Stephanie and her new husband , but we got to see how much our nieces had changed since the last time we had seen them . The girls are all grown up , and I mean one is 5 ’ 10 ” and off to college already . It was also great to have my mom , who is 83 , come from Florida for the event . It is hard to see your parents age , especially when you always seem to remember them as they were when you were a kid . She was able to meet her great-grandson for the first time ( and that was another special moment ) and also become reacquainted with the older two who had changed quite a bit in three years !
After the wedding , we had time to spend another week with our grandsons . Again , it is amazing how much they change , especially our youngest ( Jack ), in just a few weeks . Grammy and Grampy were mentally and physically exhausted following this trip , after running with little ones for a week . They were in constant motion except when sleeping . Then there are also the worries … that they will fall when climbing , choke on a piece of food too big for them , fall off their bike , trip on concrete , fall off the monkey bars at the playground or get knocked down by a wave at the ocean . It is much easier to just take care of me !
On the drive home I turned 63 , and later that week marked one year since I retired from clinical practice . I am not sure where the last year has gone , but there have been many changes since then . It seemed funny when I stopped in my office and was talking to the dentist who bought my practice . I told him it had been a year since I retired and he didn ’ t even realize it . That seemed hard to believe , but it shows time moves forward , and he now has a new associate in the practice . It was great to meet “ my replacement ,” and welcome her to our practice . She is a new grad ( 2023 ), and I am sure it will be quite a change for our patients who had been used to being treated by the seasoned white guy named Radack to now being treated by the freshfaced Hispanic female named Galvez !
On the 4 th of July our Annapolis crew made a return to Erie for a wedding and to celebrate Tommy ’ s 4 th birthday ( an Independence Day baby ). It was another whirlwind week plus . There was lots of swimming , day trips to an amusement park , the zoo , a baseball game and spending time with cousins . I even went back to work for an hour or so . Eric and Tommy got to see if I still had my skills , as they needed their teeth cleaned and examined . They were fine and Tommy was much better in the chair since his last time . Now he even wants to add being a dentist to his list of future vocations ! After nine days , they packed up the car and headed home . Even though Mary and I are exhausted and the house is in a state of complete chaos , we miss them the moment they leave and know how much they will change by the time we see them again .
So many changes all the time .
Now that Stephanie is married , we can be happy knowing both girls have found their person and are also both successful in their careers . It is our time to follow the grandkids and all the changes they will go through . I am also happy that there is now a new dentist , the next generation , to carry on at my office and treat our patients . Erie does not seem to be the top destination for new grads to start their professional careers , so as a profession we are always happy to see a new dentist call Erie home . More change is in the air for me as I will once again dust off the loupes and start doing some temporary work . It seems perfect for me to give back to the profession that we all love .
Finally YOU , along with PDA ’ s Government Relations Committee and our lobbyists and GR staff , made change happen by advocating for PDA ’ s Virtual Credit Card bill . HB 1664 , giving the dentist the option on what form of payment they wish to receive , passed both the House and Senate and at the time of this writing , was waiting for Governor Shapiro ’ s signature .
THANK YOU for being change agents ! Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes ! — STR3
JULY / AUGUST 2024 | PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL JOURNAL 5