Mystery solved...

Lately I have been wondering why my dentist hasn't been advertising in the local weekly newspaper. His practice isn't a fly-by-night operation; his father AND his grandfather were dentists working out of the same building for at least the past 60 years. Talk about having "roots in the community." He and his brothers (also dentists) have been taking out a half-page ad in the paper for years and years. So why was the ad missing?

Yesterday I got a letter in the mail. It says in part:

As many of you know, we experienced a great deal of water damage at our [name of city] dental office during the snow in February. Half of our office was affected as a result. ... The great news is that we are fully insured, and we received the go-ahead permission to make repairs! ... We are committed to meeting the ongoing dental needs of our patients during this time of remodeling and we expect to be back to full strength soon.

OK, at least they didn't abandon us for Bethesda or McLean.