Our family doesn't really have a New Year's tradition- no special way to ring in the new year has really been established other than we tend to stay at home to avoid being on the road.....oh and we have 2 kids so an adult party hasn't been on the table for years.
This New Year's Eve of 2012 brought us two letters in the mail addressed to each of our children from our medical insurance provider. I assume it's a survey of some sort......instead, we are greeted to a lengthy letter explaining to us that our beloved Pediatrician Dr. L will be leaving our local medical office and relocating JUST 30 miles away! (JUST). I have to be honest I assumed somewhere in the letter it would say, "oh but don't worry, I won't be leaving YOUR kids-YOUR kids I'll still see at YOUR local office". There was no such declaration and I was floored! ;)
Dr. L has been our pediatrician since our son was brought home from the NICU in 2004. And we still believe that the only reason we attempted a 2nd pregnancy was because we knew Dr. L would be along for the ride! We adore this man and whenever we had an appointment to see him it was like getting concert tickets....."We are going to see Dr. L!!". He was the perfect addition to our new parent clueless-ness with our first preemie and he was the confident calming force with our second preemie.
He is also the pediatrician of our close friends and neighbors, kids on our son's soccer team etc. and we all pretty much have a crush on him....And now facing 2013 without him left me sad, texting my mommy friends in frustration and looking at my kids like, well you better not get sick for a while!
I couldn't let go without closure and in my defense my toddler was due for a 6 month respiratory check so I made one last appointment to confront.....I mean discuss our break up. Driving up for that last appointment was really sad for me but I promised myself I would be the mature mom and accept our fate. It helped that when Dr. L walked in the exam room, he hung his head and said "Let me have it!" At least he realized how much we were going to miss him! I told him I came prepared to offer him a bribe but would need a few years to secure the funds with a winning lottery ticket I was sure would be mine one day.
So after thanking him for his many, many years of patience, humor, knowledge and compassion we discussed a new doctor to follow in his footsteps. And instead of the endearing last appointment I envisioned where he would see what wonderful kids he was leaving, my toddler pretty much screamed and cried the entire time! Real life wins out every time!
I'm thinking our New Year's Eve tradition will now be to NOT get the mail until New Year's DAY.
Why end AND start the year with bad news!!
Finding a pediatrician who you can trust fully is difficult, so I understand how hard it was to let go of him. He knows your kids' medical histories and practically have seen them grow up much like any parent. I'm hoping that you can forge a similar relationship with the new doctor as you had with Dr. L. Thanks for sharing, Nini! :)
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