Speech for Sean, our dentist

I crafted a speech for my kid brother Sean's inauguration as president of the local Philippine Dental Association chapter this weekend. Manong and I are going home for the occasion. We got new barongs. My mother said I should craft the speech immediately, so Sean can rehearse it! So typical of mother to be over-prepared in matters like this. As usual, I have a feeling she will overhaul what I've written, but when I spoke to her through a video call, she said the speech was "good."

It begins with something like this:

Dentists, too, have a unique role to play in society, even if much of what we do is hidden from public eyes. Ours is generally a quiet profession. Our work involves our daily routine of opening shop every day, sterilizing our instruments, checking if we have enough dental supplies, seeing, talking to, and reassuring our patients, and doing the actual dental work that our patients need. At the end of the day, we rest, we take care of our families, and we enjoy our hobbies—all these we do in preparation for yet another day. For each of these vital steps, we endeavor to do good and meaningful work.

I love dentists—there are two of them in the family! The smell of dental clinics brings me back to simpler days of my childhood, while we waited for mother to finish before we can head home, dropping by the Rose Fruit Stand near the Round Ball to get fresh mangoes, her favorites.