October 2020 – SINCERELY, DR. DAN

Mi Espectáculo de Vida Silvestre

Sentados a la mesa del desayuno todas las mañanas durante la pandemia, pensamos en las muchas oportunidades que hemos tenido para viajar durante los últimos diez años. Cuando miro hacia atrás en los lugares que hemos visitado, me doy cuenta de que a veces el mejor lugar para estar es en casa.

Mi esposa Meryl y yo nos despertamos temprano a propósito para evitar el calor y la humedad abrasadores de Florida para nuestras caminatas matutinas en agosto. Después de unos sorbos de café para ponernos en marcha (lo llamamos nuestro “combustible para aviones”), salimos de nuestra casa cuando aún está oscuro, pero sabemos que pronto apreciaremos los colores de la madrugada que no se ven en ningún otro momento del día. Mientras el resto de nuestra comunidad todavía está durmiendo, los brillantes púrpuras, rosas y naranjas iluminan el cielo antes del amanecer. Los sábados y domingos, cuando hay poco tráfico de coches, son nuestros días favoritos. El ruido de la carretera desde unas pocas millas de distancia parece ser menor los fines de semana.

Después de nuestra caminata de una hora, preparamos nuestro desayuno y nos sentamos frente al lago de nuestro patio trasero. En cuestión de minutos, comienza el espectáculo de la naturaleza. En una mañana típica, una espátula rosada solitaria vuela sobre nuestro césped. Pasa una buena media hora disfrutando de la vegetación a orillas del lago. Una cigüeña de bosque, un caraú ruidoso, una iguana de dos pies de largo y un par de ibises a menudo se unen a él, ajenos el uno al otro. Una madre pato y su cría de 12 patitos recién nacidos deambulan por el césped y se dirigen hacia el lago.

Otros días, una manada de gansos egipcios vuela sobre el césped, chillando. A menudo vemos garcetas, garzas, anhingas y una colonia ocasional de tortugas. De vez en cuando, vemos un grupo de nutrias de lago juguetonas pero agresivas.

Más de una vez, mi esposa me ha recordado las veces que pagamos costosas excursiones mientras viajábamos para poder presenciar la vida silvestre local. La mayoría de las veces, nos sentimos decepcionados porque cuando finalmente llegamos al lugar a última hora de la mañana, los animales ya se han escapado del sol. La única vez que puedo recordar haber visto un espectáculo de animales realmente asombroso fue en Sudáfrica, donde salíamos antes del amanecer para capturar la actividad de la vida silvestre temprano en la mañana en busca de su comida.

Debo decir que este ha sido un verano agradable para nuestra observación de aves y animales. Desde la comodidad de nuestra mesa de la cocina a primera hora de la mañana dentro de nuestra casa con aire acondicionado, hemos sido testigos de algunos de los mejores espectáculos de la naturaleza. ¡El precio es correcto, nuestra vista está completamente despejada y ni siquiera tenemos que disfrazarnos para la ocasión!

Our Daily Wildlife Show

English version

Sitting at our breakfast table every morning during the pandemic, we think about the many opportunities we have had to travel over the past ten years. As I look back on the places we have visited, I realize that sometimes the best place to be is at home.

Following our hour-long walk, we prepare our breakfast and sit facing our backyard lake. Within minutes, the nature show begins. On a typical morning a lone roseate spoonbill flies onto our lawn. He spends a good half hour enjoying the vegetation on the lakefront. A wood stork , a noisy limpkin, a two-foot-long iguana and a couple of ibises often join him, oblivious of one another. A mother duck and her brood of 12 newly hatched ducklings wanders across the lawn and makes their way down to the lake.

On other days, a gaggle of Egyptian geese flies onto the lawn, squawking away. We often see egrets, herons, anhingas and an occasional colony of tortoises. Once in a while, we see a group of playful but aggressive lake otters.

More than once, my wife has reminded me of the times that we have paid for expensive excursions while traveling so that we could witness the local wildlife. Most of the time, we are disappointed because by the time we finally arrive at the location late in the morning, the animals have already escaped the hot sun. The only time that I can recall seeing a truly amazing animal show was in South Africa where we would go out before sunrise in order to capture the early morning activity of the wildlife in search of their food.

I have to say that this has been an enjoyable summer for our bird and animal viewing. From the comfort of our early morning kitchen table inside our air conditioned home, we have witnessed some of the best nature shows. The price is right, our view is completely unobstructed and we don’t even have to dress up for the occasion!

The Chinese Fan

English version

This kind of story often seems to happen to me.

On one of our last days in Valencia, Spain where my wife, Meryl, and I had spent the summer, we were returning from last-minute shopping at the famous Central Market, one of our favorite spots in the city.

At 11 am, since it was already 88 degrees (31° C), we decided to take the bus back to our apartment. We were lucky to get seats because the #32 bus is the one which travels from the downtown historic area through our neighborhood and then on toward the Mediterranean beaches.

Sitting immediately in front of us was an older Asian man who was fanning himself with a strangely interesting fan, but not like the usual abanicos that are used by Spanish women on hot days. It had unusual rose paintings on the front and Chinese lettering on the back.

As the bus filled up, an older lady boarded the bus and the Asian man moved his packages to allow her to sit next to him.

She admired his fan, first determining that he understood Spanish. After acknowledging that he spoke Spanish, he immediately offered her the fan. At first, she refused politely, but he insisted. You could tell by her reaction that she was going to treasure this gift from a perfect stranger.

A few minutes later, the Asian man signaled to the driver that he was getting off at the next stop which happened to be our stop. Since he was carrying some very heavy bags of groceries from a Chinese market, I offered to help him.

As we were getting off the bus, he proceeded to tell me his whole life story!

He was 72 years old, originally from Saigon, Viet Nam but had escaped by boat during the Viet Nam war to Hong Kong. He had emigrated to Spain 24 years ago because of some Chinese friends. While there are many Chinese people in Spain, he explained to us that there were very few Vietnamese people in Spain because most of them wound up choosing France as they left Asia. This is partly because of the historical connection of France and Vietnam.

Our friend told us that he has several daughters, one of whom works with his wife in their nail salon which was directly across the street from our apartment.

After we helped him bring his packages to his apartment which was about five blocks in the opposite direction from us, he invited us upstairs. I was surprised that Meryl went along with me so willingly since she is usually much more cautious than I am with strangers. He offered us water, tea and cookies and then he walked over to a cabinet on the other side of the room and took out some things to show us.

“One fan for each of you.” He continued by giving us each a beautiful silk Chinese shirt and pants.

“My gift to you,” he explained in very heavily accented Spanish, “for helping me so nicely.” We sat and talked and he gave us details about how he had fled Saigon in the late 70s during the boat crisis and how he had lived in Hong Kong for several years before coming to Spain.

As we left his apartment, he walked with us back to our neighborhood because he wanted us to meet his wife and daughter at their nail shop. While there, he again thanked us effusively for helping him. We in turn told him how much we enjoyed the experience of meeting him and how much we appreciated our unexpected gifts.

I wish that this experience wouldn’t have happened on one of our last days in Valencia. I would have liked to have gotten to know our new friend better.

Nuestros Dias Especiales

Versión en español

¿Cómo lo llamarías?

Estos dolorosos “días especiales:”

Acabamos de pasar la marca de los ocho años. Es difícil encontrar las palabras que describan los sentimientos que pasan por nuestras mentes en estos días especiales. Cumpleaños, Día de la Madre, Día del Padre y F.D.M. (Fecha de muerte)

Estos días están inmersos en el dolor de la pérdida, dependiendo de su estado de ánimo. Hemos conocido a innumerables padres que, como nosotros, han perdido un hijo y hemos observado que algunos no se han adaptado con éxito a lo que llamamos “la nueva normalidad”. Si bien a veces es una lucha diaria mantener una actitud positiva, hay largos períodos de tiempo en los que nos encontramos volviendo a abrazar inconscientemente el placer de nuestro estilo de vida una vez feliz.

Nuestro hijo de dieciocho años, Ari, fue asesinado por un conductor ebrio mientras conducía inocentemente su bicicleta en nuestro vecindario una noche hace ocho años. Las luces intermitentes del coche de la policía, los inolvidables golpes en la puerta y el inminente grito de mi esposa que había despertado de un sueño profundo, han grabado un recuerdo imborrable en nuestras mentes.

En días especiales como hoy, múltiples experiencias sensoriales compiten con nuestros pensamientos positivos. En nuestras caminatas matutinas en nuestro vecindario, tratamos de enfocarnos en la belleza de la naturaleza. Como fotógrafos, disfrutamos viendo la “luz dorada” del sol de la mañana cuando ilumina las copas de los árboles mientras las ramas inferiores todavía cuelgan pesadas a la sombra. Nos deleita escuchar las muchas canciones del sinsonte atravesando la quietud del zumbido. El grito distante del caráu P viaja sin obstáculos a través del lago. El rat-a-tat del pico de un pájaro carpintero ocasional contra una canaleta de metal en una casa cercana nos hace reír. El fragante olor matutino del jazmín que florece en la noche impregna el vecindario, llenando nuestras sensibles fosas nasales con el recordatorio de que nuestro especial mes de mayo está en plena floración. Los árboles de tabebuia amarillo, rosa y lavanda anuncian la temporada con su brillante exhibición de color, solo para ser rivalizados por las brillantes flores de color rojo anaranjado de los árboles Royal Poinciana.

En ocasiones, nuestros recuerdos de nuestro hijo se mezclan de otras maneras. El corredor de fondo que nos pasa por la acera interrumpe nuestro espectáculo diario de la naturaleza. Mientras pasa silenciosamente a nuestro lado, ambos suspiramos en ese momento compartido. Cuando más tarde saboreamos nuestro desayuno posterior a la caminata frente al lago de nuestro patio trasero, una vista inusual aparece de repente en nuestra visión periférica. Un adolescente alto camina lentamente por nuestro patio trasero mientras lanza su hilo de pescar al lago que lo espera. Gorra de béisbol, corte de pelo corto, pantalones cortos de color rojo brillante y la misma complexión delgada inmediatamente hacen que nos alcancemos de la mano.

Estos recordatorios visuales se denominan “avistamientos” (“sightings”) por los padres que también han sufrido la pérdida de un hijo. Si bien a veces son dolorosos de ver, brindan un recuerdo vivo del gozo de volver a ver a nuestro hijo en la forma de otra persona claramente similar. Esto ha sucedido varias veces antes. Una vez en un largo crucero, uno de los artistas del espectáculo tenía un parecido asombroso con nuestro hijo. Lo notamos instantáneamente, exactamente al mismo tiempo que apareció en el escenario, y nuestra respuesta fue la misma. Nos cogemos de la mano en un momento compartido no verbal.

La aceptación del fallecimiento de nuestro hijo es diferente este año. Junto con la mayoría de las personas, nuestros planes de viaje se han visto seriamente interrumpidos. Ahora nos damos cuenta de que en los años transcurridos desde su muerte, hemos evitado cuidadosamente estar en casa en su fecha de muerto. Es mucho más fácil planear estar lejos en algún otro lugar lejano que estar en casa con los constantes recordatorios de su aniversario.

Este año, sin embargo, la aceptación de nuestra pérdida ha sido desafiada por tener que permanecer secuestrada en casa. Nos hemos mantenido lo suficientemente ocupados con nuestros múltiples intereses y de alguna manera hemos sobrevivido. Los atentos recuerdos de los amigos del F.D.M. de Ari han ayudado a que sea más fácil pasar ese día.

Mientras observamos el espectáculo matutino de aves en el patio trasero, nos conmueve el lento vuelo del ibis blanco solitario, que atrapa cada ráfaga de viento, antes de que finalmente aterrice en nuestro césped.

“Ese es Ari volviendo a vernos”, le recuerdo a mi esposa. “Quiere asegurarse de que sigamos disfrutando de nuestras vidas”.

Our Special Days

English version

What would you call it?

We just passed the eight-year mark. It is difficult to find the words that describe the feelings that run through our minds on these special days. Birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and D.O.D. (Date of Death).

These days are steeped in the pain of loss, depending on your frame of mind. We have met countless parents who like us have lost a child and there are some we have observed who have not successfully adapted to what we call “the new normal.” While it is sometimes a daily struggle to maintain a positive attitude, there are long periods of time when we find ourselves subconsciously re-embracing the pleasure of our once happy lifestyle.

Our eighteen-year-old son, Ari, was killed by a drunk driver while he was innocently riding his bike in our neighborhood one night eight years ago. The flashing lights of the police car, the unforgettable pounding on the door and the impending scream of my wife who had been awakened from a deep sleep, have etched an indelible memory in our minds.

On special days like today, multiple sensory experiences compete with our positive thoughts. On our early-morning walks in our neighborhood, we try to focus on the beauty of nature. As photographers, we enjoy seeing the “golden light” of the early morning sun as it brightens up the tops of the trees while the bottom branches still hang heavy in the shade.

***Early morning light known as “the golden light” among photographers***

***We love those early morning shadows***

We delight in hearing the mockingbird’s many songs slice through the still quiet of the pre-rush hour hum. The distant cry of the limpkin travels unimpeded across the lake. The rat-a-tat of occasional woodpecker’s beak against a metal gutter on a nearby house causes us to laugh. The early morning fragrant smell of the night-blooming jasmine permeates the neighborhood, filling our sensitive nostrils with the reminder that our special month of May is in full bloom. The yellow, pink and lavender tabebuia trees announce the season with their brilliant display of color, only to be rivaled by the bright red-orange blossoms of the Royal Poinciana trees.

***The Royal Poinciana tree in its full bloom***

Our memories of our son are occasionally jostled in other ways. The cross-country runner passing us on the sidewalk interrupts our daily nature show. As he quietly runs past us, we both sigh in that shared moment. As we later savor our post-walk breakfast facing our backyard lake, an unusual sight suddenly appears in our peripheral vision. A tall teenage boy slowly walks across our backyard as he casts his fishing line into the awaiting lake. Baseball cap, short haircut, bright red board shorts and the same thin build immediately cause us to reach for each other’s hand.

These visual reminders are called “sightings” by parents who have also suffered the loss of a child. While these are sometimes painful to watch, they provide a living memory of the joy of re-seeing our son in the form of another, but distinctly similar person. This has happened several times before. Once on a long cruise, one of the performers in the show bore an uncanny resemblance to our son. We noticed him instantly at exactly the same time as he appeared on stage, and our response was the same. We reach for each other’s hand in a non-verbal shared moment.

These visual reminders are called “sightings“

The acceptance of our son’s passing is different this year. Along with most other people, our travel plans have been seriously disrupted. We realize now that in the years since his death, we have carefully avoided being at home on his D.O.D. It is much easier to plan to be away in some other far-flung location than it is to be at home with the constant reminders of his anniversary.

This year, however, the acceptance of our loss has been challenged by having to remain sequestered at home. We have kept sufficiently busy with our multiple interests and somehow we have survived. Friends’ thoughtful remembrances of Ari’s D.O.D. have helped make it easier to get through that day.

As we watch the morning backyard bird show, we are touched by the slow soaring of the lone white ibis, catching each gust of wind, before he finally lands on our lawn.

“That’s Ari checking on us again,” I remind my wife. “He wants to make sure we are still enjoying our lives.”

“Has Llegado”

Versión en español

Hace unos años, acabábamos de llegar a Madrid donde teníamos previsto pasar todo el verano. Aunque estábamos agotados por el vuelo desde Estados Unidos, decidimos reajustar nuestro reloj interno “jetlag” manteniéndonos despiertos.

Inmediatamente después de mudarnos a nuestro apartamento de Airbnb en el centro de Madrid, decidimos ir a la exposición del artista holandés MC Escher, en el Palacio Gaviria en su último día. Como no quería arriesgarme a no poder asistir si nuestro vuelo se había retrasado, llegamos sin reservaciones, así que hicimos fila fuera del Palacio dos horas antes de su hora de cierre a las 5 de la tarde.

La fila para quienes no tenían boletos se movió lentamente debido a la capacidad controlada del hermoso palacio del centro. A las cuatro, una persona de la taquilla salió, contó el número de personas que esperaban y designó quiénes podrían entrar y a quiénes se les negaría la entrada.

Junto a otras veinte personas más, estábamos en el grupo a quienes, aunque llevábamos esperando al menos una hora, les dijeron que no podíamos visitar la exposición. Inmediatamente entré en modo de mendicidad, explicando que habíamos estado despiertos toda la noche en el vuelo y por qué no habíamos comprado boletos con anticipación. Después de consultar con su supervisor, obviamente se apiadó de nosotros porque nos permitieron entrar al programa.

Fue una exposición excelente y la impresionante arquitectura del antiguo palacio lo hizo aún más especial. Cuando nos íbamos, mi esposa me dijo: “Veamos si podemos encontrar ese restaurante chino sobre el que leímos”.

Verá, la comida china tiene un misterioso efecto curativo en mi esposa, Meryl. Si, por alguna razón, se siente estresada o deprimida, solo el susurro de las palabras “comida china” tiene una respuesta terapéutica inmediata.

Antes de salir de los Estados Unidos, habíamos marcado el nombre del restaurante que habíamos encontrado en Internet y lo habíamos puesto en nuestra aplicación Google Maps. Afortunadamente, nos dijo que estaba a solo 1 km de distancia y nos trazó una ruta fácil.

Menos de quince minutos después, de mi bolsillo, escuché las familiares palabras, “Has llegado”. Nos quedamos allí confundidos en medio de la enorme Plaza de España con su monumento a Cervantes. No había ningún restaurante a la vista. Dimos la vuelta, caminamos unos pocos pies en ambas direcciones, ¡y nuestro GPS seguía diciendo que estábamos en el lugar correcto!

Después de preguntar a algunos transeúntes si sabían dónde estaba el restaurante, salimos desanimados de la Plaza. Una persona nos dijo que había varios otros restaurantes chinos en el vecindario, afortunadamente en dirección a nuestro apartamento.

Resultó ser fortuito. Elegimos un restaurante chino muy concurrido donde nos sentamos justo al lado de una joven mujer y un hombre chino. Sabíamos que tenía que ser auténtico ya que había muchos otros estudiantes chinos y los precios eran correctos, incluso para una ciudad cara como Madrid.

La mujer china era de hecho un médico que había asistido a la escuela de medicina en Cuba y el hombre era su hermano que estudiaba ingeniería informática en España. Estaba matriculada en una residencia de cardiología en Madrid y nos comunicamos bien juntos en español. Durante el resto de nuestra estadía, disfrutamos de conocerla al menos una vez a la semana para poder comer comida china con ella en sus lugares favoritos de la ciudad.

Cuando regresamos a nuestro apartamento, intentamos averiguar dónde nos habíamos equivocado en nuestra búsqueda del restaurante original en la Plaza de España. Después de volver al sitio original marcado como favorito, leímos muchas reseñas y descubrimos que el restaurante estaba ubicado debajo de la Plaza de España en una fila de tiendas adyacentes al estacionamiento municipal subterráneo.

Esto explicaba por qué cuando estábamos parados directamente encima del restaurante, nos informó que “habíamos llegado”. Terminó siendo nuestro lugar favorito donde íbamos con frecuencia para comprar nuestros fideos de batata y albóndigas de costilla de cerdo.

Ahora, de vuelta en casa, cada vez que usamos nuestro GPS, siempre nos preguntamos qué tan precisas son sus direcciones. Cuando escuchamos las palabras, “Has llegado”, comenzamos a salivar por esa deliciosa comida china, en de todos los lugares, la capital de España.

“You Have Arrived!”

English version

A few years ago, we had just arrived in Madrid where we were planning to spend the whole summer. Although we were exhausted from the flight from the United States, we decided to re-set our jetlagged internal clock by staying awake.

Right after we had moved into our Airbnb apartment in downtown Madrid, we decided to go to the exhibit of the Dutch artist, MC Escher, at the Palacio Gaviria on its last day. Since I didn’t want to risk not being able to attend if our flight had been delayed, we arrived without reservations so we lined up outside the Palace two hours before its closing time at 5 pm.

The line for non-ticket holders moved slowly because of the controlled capacity of the beautiful downtown palace. At 4 pm, a box-office person came outside, counted the number of people waiting, and designated who would be able to enter, and who would be denied entrance.

Along with another twenty or so people, we were in the group who, although we had been waiting at least an hour, were told that we could not visit the exhibit. I immediately went into begging mode, explaining that we had been up all night on the flight and why we had not purchased tickets in advance. After checking with her supervisor, she obviously took pity on us because they allowed us to enter the show.

It was an excellent exhibit, and the stunning architecture of the old palace made it even more special. As we left, my wife said to me, “Let’s see if we can find that Chinese restaurant that we read about.”

You see, Chinese food has a mysterious curative effect on my wife, Meryl. If, for any reason, she is feeling stressed or low, just the whispering of the words “Chinese food” has an immediate therapeutic response.

***Almost right up the street to the Plaza de España***

Before leaving the US, we had bookmarked the name of the restaurant which we had found on the internet, and put it into our Google Maps app. Thankfully it told us that it was only about 1 km away and it mapped out an easy route for us.

Less than fifteen minutes later, from my pocket, I heard the familiar words, “You have arrived.” We stood there confused in the middle of the enormous Plaza de España with its monument to Cervantes. There was no restaurant in sight. We turned around, walked a few feet in both directions, and our GPS kept on saying that we were in the right place!

After asking a few passersby if they knew where the restaurant was, we left the Plaza discouraged. One person told us that there were several other Chinese restaurants in the neighborhood, thankfully in the direction of our apartment.

It turned out to be fortuitous. We chose a very busy Chinese restaurant where we were seated right next to a young Chinese woman and man. We knew it had to be authentic since there were many other young-looking Chinese students and the prices were right, even for an expensive town like Madrid.

The Chinese woman was in fact a doctor who had attended medical school in Cuba and the man was her brother who was studying computer engineering in Spain. She was enrolled in a cardiology residency in Madrid and we communicated well together in Spanish. For the rest of our stay, we enjoyed meeting her at least once a week so that we could have Chinese food with her at her favorite places in the city.

When we returned to our apartment, we attempted to figure out where we had gone wrong in our search for the original restaurant at the Plaza de España. After going back to the original bookmarked site, we read through many reviews and discovered that the restaurant was actually located beneath the Plaza de España in a row of shops adjacent to the subterranean municipal parking garage.

We were right on top of the restaurant when we heard “You have arrived”

This explained why when we were standing directly on top of the restaurant, it informed us that we “had arrived.” It wound up being our go-to place where we frequently went to for our favorite sweet potato noodles and pork rib dumplings.

Now back at home, whenever we use our GPS, we always question how accurate its directions are. When we hear the words, “You have arrived,” we begin to salivate for that delicious Chinese food, in of all places, the capital city of Spain.

My bio

English version

Welcome to SincerelyDrDan.com, my blog which I began to publish online in November 2020.

I am Dan Kraft, AKA Dr. Dan. I am a retired pediatrician in Lake Worth, Florida where I have lived since 1980.

I was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1950, the second child to first- generation Americans who also grew up in northern New Jersey. When I was only two years old, my parents moved to the suburban town of Verona where I lived and enjoyed excellent public schools before going to college.

I attended the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia before going to medical school at Rutgers Medical School in New Jersey for two years. I then transferred to the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine where I graduated in 1975. My pediatrics residency at Albert Einstein College of Medicine was followed by two years in Baltimore where I attended the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. I received a Masters of Public Health with a concentration in Maternal and Child Health in 1980.

A job opportunity brought me to Florida. In 1981, I opened my first pediatric office which eventually became Palm Beach Pediatrics. When I retired in 2014, our practice had 8 doctors and 8 pediatric nurse practitioners working in three offices.

I truly loved my work. Those were the “glory days” of being a doctor. With its very diverse population base, Palm Beach County was a wonderful place to practice medicine. Our loyal and trusting patients appreciated the compassionate care and medical expertise that we provided. Over the course of 35 years, I witnessed the growth of South Florida. I still laugh when I remember how many people questioned how I would survive as a pediatrician in an area known for its large retirement population. Thankfully throughout my career, there was a steady influx of young families. Over the years, I became an integral part of several generations of families. I was fortunate to surround myself with excellent and supportive colleagues in my growing practice.

I decided to write this blog because I always felt that I had so many stories to tell. Some come from my career as a pediatrician. Since in my later years, my wife, Meryl, and I have had the opportunity to travel extensively, other stories come from my observations during our trips. Many of the stories that I will share with you simply come from my experiences with the joys and sorrows of life itself.

You will see that gratitude is a central theme in many of my stories. I have always believed in “paying it forward.” From the academic scholarships that I received to the many opportunities to work and travel abroad, I am very thankful. These experiences have broadened my view of the world and have made me a more appreciative person. I have learned to utilize my inner resilience which enabled me to accept and survive some of the darker moments of my life.

To the patients, friends and family members who encouraged me and helped me to become the doctor I always wanted to be, I dedicate this blog. I sincerely appreciate the very fulfilling career you gave me. I also thank my wife Meryl for the happiness, genuine partnership and security that she has given me for more than twenty years.

Please send me your feedback to: dpkmd3@gmail.com

In the future, I will feature other human interest stories by guest authors.

Sincerely, Dr. Dan will be a bilingual blog. My friends in my Spanish and French conversation groups are always seeking interesting reading material , so I decided to start a fully English/Spanish blog from the beginning. Who knows where it will go? Maybe even a few more languages in the future!? For now, it’s just English and Spanish, but you can use the Google Translate option in the sidebar for any other listed language.

Sincerely, Dr. Dan será un blog bilingüe. Mis amigos en mi grupo de conversación en español siempre están buscando material de lectura interesante tanto en español como en inglés, así que decidí comenzar un blog completamente en inglés / español desde el principio. ¿Quién sabe adónde irá? ¿¡Quizás incluso algunos idiomas más en el futuro !? Por ahora, es solo inglés y español, pero puede usar la opción Google Translate en la barra lateral para cualquier otro idioma de la lista.

Sincerely,

Dr. Dan