From the Winter 2025 Journal of the Colorado Dental Association, By Casey Rhines, D.D.S., CDA Editor
I was cruising in Alaska — somewhere between Juneau and Ketchikan— when I read a quote from Anthony Bourdain: “Writing is a privilege and a luxury. Anybody who whines about writer’s block should be forced to clean squid all day.” I looked above the edges of my book, out to the vast Pacific Ocean, and became immensely grateful for all the little luxuries in my life.
Gratitude is a practice that I employ often. In these luxurious moments, I am reminded of where my life started. My mom was only 17 when I was born, and she was not able to attend college. I often think about the hard life that she endured. She was a server for most of my childhood, and that alone is a hard job. It’s hard enough for me to remember to do a couple standard hygiene checks every hour let alone that table five wants light ice, table six wants extra lemons, table four has been waiting and table three needs a kid’s menu. I’m not saying dentistry is easy — it’s not. But what a privilege it is to practice our passion, to take care of people in some of their most vulnerable moments, and to be educated.
I am currently working toward my Master of Business Administration at CU Denver. The admissions application was standard: name, previous education, check this box if you are a disadvantaged applicant. For the first time in my life, I did not have to check the box. Out of habit, I actually did check it at first. I am a first-generation college student, and I have benefitted from several social programs throughout my life. I unchecked the box. I don’t have to spend hours searching for and applying for scholarships anymore. My grocery shopping no longer revolves around what coupons I have or what is on sale.
On the one hand, I am so grateful to have been given these opportunities when I needed them (and boy, did I need them) and, on the other, I am immensely thankful and proud of my career and where it has taken me. I’m grateful to no longer need assistance. Isn’t that everyone’s dream?
I believe it is every parent’s dream for their children to be better off than they were. But this is coupled with the pain of admitting that their own life was not enough for their child. There were many aspects of my career that my mom could never understand such as why I couldn’t prescribe antibiotics to her friends that I never saw or why I didn’t have a million dollars as soon as I graduated. Sometimes I wonder if it was me who didn’t understand. Didn’t I live under the same roof where we stretched $1,600 to cover all our monthly expenses? Wasn’t I once so resourceful that I bought a cheap gym membership to shower when our water got shut off? I used to take so much pride in being able to talk to people from disadvantaged backgrounds because I was from that background.
It’s a bizarre feeling to be the first doctor in the family. Every inch closer I got to my goal, I felt a mile further from the people who raised me. It felt like I was carrying everyone out of the burning building, but they were afraid of being cold. As I mature, I think it was only okay to want to leave as long as I was in that “disadvantaged” community. Even when I didn’t think I had made it yet, it probably seemed that way to others, which made me seem stuck-up. Gratitude is the only way out of the cycle of longing for better while appreciating what you have.
Thus, it is a privilege to be writing this for all of you. I am immensely grateful to be the CDA editor-in-chief. I am grateful to have these life experiences and be able to share them as a story for all of you. I am grateful for our careers and where mine has taken me. Several pieces in this issue address gratitude; I hope you can join us by listing three things for which you are grateful.
