Rhonda Retires

I started working as Steve's dental assistant in January 2001. Steve and I were actually divorced at that time and I was working for TRW Systems Federal Credit Union at the TRW site in Mesa. I enjoyed that job but I needed more hours and better pay.

Steve had wanted me to come and work in the dental office for awhile but I had always refused. I had a couple of reasons why I had not accepted his offer:

1. We were divorced and I wasn't sure how well we would work together. No brainer, right?

2. In the past I had been known to have a weak stomach when it came to surgery and blood.

Examples:

Like the time Brinton split his head open running through the church while I was decorating for a young women's activity. On the way to the doctor's office I had stopped at the stop sign and opened the door of my Volkswagen to vomit into the street. Brinton asked me why I "throwed up" and I explained I had a stomach ache.

There was the time Steve was stitching up Brinton's eye or Trey's thumb and I was laying in the hallway in the dental office trying not to throw up and feeling faint.

The worst was when my cousin and college roommate Lisa fell and split her chin open. She had it stitched and when it came time to have her stitches removed I went went her to the infirmary for moral support. The next thing I know I wake up lying on a gurney in another room and I could hear Lisa and the doctor talking and yes, laughing, as he was removing her stitches.

Now back to my story. I think you can see why working in the dental office might not have been my first career choice. However, Steve made me an offer I could not refuse and I started as his dental assistant. Turns out we worked well together. I found that I enjoyed working with Steve. He is a maverick and you are never bored working beside him. He is a general dentist who also does, orthodontics,endodontics,oral surgery including implants and well you name it Steve does it.

I also saw a different side of Steve as we worked side by side. I saw how generous he is,how compassionate he is, how fair he is and how devoted he is to his patients. I began to truly realize what a fabulous dentist Steve is. One of his implant reps likes to refer to him as a "Rock Star"! Needless to say seeing Steve in a different light by working with him contributed to our getting remarried. In essence, this was the best job I ever had!

As time went on I ended up in the front office and I learned that aspect of the business. When Brannon came into the office I became his front office "girl friday". I have enjoyed watching Brannon grow with his practice. He is also a wonderful dentist with great skills who is

kind, compassionate and fair. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

Steve retired the first of May 2011. I planned on continuing to work for an undetermined time. I wanted to be there as Brannon transitioned taking over Steve's patients. Not long after he retired Steve came to me and said that his retirement wasn't really retirement if I wasn't retired. He suggested it was time I also retired. July 14th 2011 was my last day working at the dental office.

My life now is to be continued....................

I had posted a picture of the awesome rock Steve was given by the office when he retired but I wanted to post it again along with photos of my retirement gift from the office.

This is what you get when you retire after being a dentist for 40 years!

This is what you get when you retire after having worked in the dental office for 10 years!

Thanks Dr. Duffy!

I think they complement each other quite well in our front yard, don't you?

A side note. My first day as a dental assistant Steve was extracting every upper tooth on a young woman and delivering a full upper denture. He said; "Come on Rhonda, you are going to assist me with this." ..................I did not get sick!