Dr. Jacob Merryman is a young dentist who has been working in Cambridge, my town, and nearby Schuylerville. He is building his practice. I had a particular problem with a tooth, and my regular dentist was jammed up, so I went to see him.

We hit off when he worked on my teeth a month ago.  I just felt completely comfortable with him. And he has a great sense of humor. If I’ve learned nothing else in the past few years, it’s to find doctors I can talk to and hang onto them.

And laugh with them.

Doctors are essential at this stage of my life.

To be as healthy as I plan to be, I need to have doctors I trust and can speak with openly. I want them to be there when I need them, and I want to trust them and listen to them.

That is the formula that is working for me.

Dr. Merryman is one of those doctors.

For now, he’s working in both places—the office he is building is friendly, bright, and highly hi-tech.

I am very grateful to Cambridge Dental and the staff there. They have always been good to me, and I have nothing but good words to say about them.

But I felt it was time for a change, and I wanted to take a look at Dr. Merryman’s new office.

He is the kind of doctor I want to take care of my health. His staff is the same way. It’s a bright and happy place.

My teeth are important. And the office is beautiful, natural light, very comfortable chairs, drills that clean but don’t hurt, and beautiful art on the walls.

Dr. Merryman is the dentist I feel is right for me now.

I’m going to switch over to him. I think I already did without quite knowing it.  I’m guessing he is a man of great faith (the kids’ names are all from the Bible.)

Of course, everybody loved Zinnia in Schuylerville, and she was pretty happy there. Dog lovers are one community that isn’t divided. They all love dogs.

While there, I got a good and thorough tooth cleaning from Anne, and Dr. Merryman found a cavity. I’m back in two weeks to get it drilled and filled. While sitting in Anne’s chair (the dental hygenist), I was surprised to see four young boys come rushing into the room I was in to meet and hug and pat Zinnia.

Anne urged me to buy a Water-Pick to clean out the hard-to-reach spaces between teeth. I got one at the office.

The boys in the photo are Dr. Merryman’s sons:  Jude (12), Joel (10), Abel(7) and, And Samuel (5). I also met Dr. Merryman’s wife, Veronika, a dog lover with a new Lab Puppy.

I love how the family was with one another, loving and listening, and very warm. And I appreciated how comfortable these boys were in their father’s office; it felt so very much like a family enterprise, and I was in their living room.

Zinnia was startled by the four boys in her face and sat with them for a while and then went off to another empty examining room and went to sleep. I love the way she handles herself and figures things out.

After a while, the boys were too much for her and she just moved. No muss, no bother.

(above, Anne and Zinnia)

Veronika has a new lab puppy she’s crazy about, and it turns out she was reading one of my dog books – Katz On Dogs – over the weekend. She said we both had the same ideas about raising dogs.

Veronika and I had a great talk about dog training, and when I left, I thought she had great instincts and intuition. If she raised her dog the way she has expanded her sons, he’d be a wonderful family dog.

I felt as if I were joining a family, the kids, the staff, the doctor  –  all warm, fun, open. I’ll share the trip, of course.