The Slice: When old reliables defect from your support network

My dentist is retiring.

She made this decision without consulting me. Story of my life.

I do not approve. Not one bit.

A new guy is taking over her practice. I’m sure he’s a fine dentist.

But here’s the thing. I have been going to Connie for about as long as I have lived in Spokane, which is almost 30 years. I trust her.

That’s a big deal because somewhere along the line I turned into a total fraidy cat about fillings, crowns and other grinding, drilling dental procedures. But Connie always managed to assure me everything was going to be OK.

She is a petite woman. But the new guy has some big, big shoes to fill.

You always remember your first time: “I took my first flight on Aug. 13, 1948, which happened to be a Friday,” wrote Mary Shelly. “I got a good send-off from my co-workers who said it had been nice knowing me. I flew from Seattle to Philadelphia, with seven stops along the way.

“I dressed in a nice suit, wearing high heels and a hat. Even though I was flying coach I was served the best chicken salad I have ever had. In fact, it was better than I have had since in first class.”

Today’s Slice question: Liberty Lake’s Molly Arnzen had a story and a question.

“I met a 60-plus woman at a party this past weekend. She was originally from Spokane but had spent all of her life since about age 20 living in Seattle. She told me she could never live in Spokane again, ‘It’s too provincial.’

“Anyway, I told her my son, who lives in Portland, had gotten married this summer and that I was encouraging him and his husband to move to Spokane where the cost of living and real estate were more reasonable. (Plus closer to me too!)

“This Seattlite told me that Spokane is not accepting of gay people and that life in Spokane would be horrible for my son and his husband. I told her I didn’t see an issue with being gay and living in Spokane.

“Am I delusional? Is Spokane not the welcoming place I think it is? Are we that far behind the times? Should I not encourage my son to move to Spokane? What do you think?”

Molly, I think someone who hasn’t lived here in 40 years might not be the ultimate expert on life in 2017 Spokane. But something tells me this is a matter Slice readers should weigh in on. Stay tuned.

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Quite a few American cities get more rain than Seattle.