Paul Fleiss
When Thea was a few months from being born, the search began for a pediatrician. This was before the innerweb, so how do you find a good doctor?
Well, by asking parents on the street, Who is your pediatrician? Do you like them? How attentive? How good of a doctor? The only pediatrician who got a consistently great answer was Paul Fleiss.
So an appointment was made for us to interview him as a prospective doctor.
We didn’t get to see him, we saw his partner Jay Gordon. I noticed as he was interviewing us that he was looking at our fingernails, at our eyes, our hair. He was checking out our health. And then he announced that they do not take smokers. Suzi fudged a bit and said that she wasn't a smoker. And then Jay said that they only accepted people who already had bought a car seat. This was before child car seats were required by law. We had already bought a car seat. So we became a patient.
We went in before Thea was born and talked to Paul. He said to call the office when the baby was born. I thought that was a practical thing to do.
We went in before Thea was born and talked to Paul. He said to call the office when the baby was born. I thought that was a practical thing to do. But when she was born he came to the hospital and gave THE speech, a blessing, the welcome. I’ve tried but can’t find the beautiful words he said online. If you ever see the unfortunately named TV movie, The Making of a Hollywood Madam (1996), the words he gave newborns is in this movie. All our kids got the “blessing.” Max and Lily got theirs at his office. I loved his office, it was in a house, just like my pediatrician/family doctor's office was in a house. To my delight Frannie was also a patient. With six kids, a lot of time was spent in the waiting room. So many good parents, so many good kids. I got to spend a little time with Gypsy Boots, (google him), who brought fruit every morning to Paul and his staff. I also got to spend a little time with Paul out in the world. At the library, talking after getting gas at the gas station, and at Children's Hospital. His staff was impressed that he took me upstairs to his real office. His public office was a very proper little room that created confidence and authority. But his real office upstairs was full of books and piles of papers and was a wonderful mess. That filled me with confidence in him. His staff was also wonderful. Most of their names have faded. I remember Yolie and Terrie. They were all great people. Paul also was supportive and kind to me during some of my own troubled times, and he also recommended me to two doctors that really helped me a lot with my own health problems, Dr. Jesse Hanley and another doctor whose name I can’t remember, who were both really good medical detectives. When Paul was in court with his Heidi unpleasantness, his staff asked me to write to the judge as a friend of the court. When Paul died his staff asked me to write a little something for his online memorial. Here it is. I had the privilege to hear the blessing Paul gave to newborns 5 times. Each time was as meaningful and beautiful as the other. With 6 kids, I got to hang out at his waiting room, meeting other parents and children. I had the privilege of spending some time with Paul out of the office. During some difficult times in my own life, Paul gave me support and good advice. Paul, you will be missed by Thea, Frannie, Hana, Max, Noah, and Lily. David & Sarah.