After a while of being out of touch, I got the chance to bond recently with Dr. Frieda Brookshire at the California Wok in Los Alamitos with other friends.
I even admitted this to her na medyo nagtampo ako sa kanya ng konti kasi matagal ko din siyang iniimbitahan na mag get-together to no avail. But, such is the life of a busy doctor.
My connection with Dr. Brookshire started when she was nominated as Woman of the Year during Reflections 18 a few years back.
Needless to say, she’s a phenomenal Prosthodontist. Just look at the brilliant smiles of Ms. Kuh Ledesma and Ms. Pops Fernandez. That’s the Dr. Brookshire brand.
During our outing, we had some enjoyable conversations and laughs. Nakakatuwang kasama si Dr. Brookshire when she’s out of her doctor’s robe and just relaxing with friends.
The way she is outside work is in stark contrast to her professional life. Being a brilliant Prosthodontist, she does take her job seriously and she is excellent at it.
With the support of her younger brother Frederick Von Giese, Dr. Brookshire has expanded her practice over the past year. They moved to a much bigger, more state-of-the-art dental office in Orange County, California.
When I’m at her clinic, I sometimes forget that Dr. Brookshire had a much different career path before being Frieda Fonda, the authentic Ms Body Language on Philippine TV.
You can only detect traces of that kikay showbiz girl in her when she steps outside her workplace. As you may recall, Fonda was a very popular dancer during the 1980s. She started showbiz at age 16 and went on to join the cast of TODAS, headlined by comedian Joey De Leon.
When the show TODAS got the axe, had her academic studies to fall back on. She armed her herself with a degree in dentistry. Shortly after, she migrated to the US and reinforced her dentistry credentials at the University of Loma Linda, California.
She went on to pursue a master of science degree in Prosthodontics from the Marquette University School of Dentistry Graduate School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
So from being Ms. Body Language, she has transformed into the Beautiful Smile Diva. Besides the career change, however, Dr Brookshire has not changed at all in terms of personality.
She’s still down-to-earth and unassuming. She knows how to have fun and her laughter is distinctively hers talaga. Morever, she’s caring and compassionate.
Like most who watch TFC, I saw Dr. Brookshire bare her story on Citizen Pinoy as her beloved brother faced an immigration crisis.
I was happy to have played a little part in connecting Dr. Brookshire and Frederick to attorney Michael Gurfinkel, who was able to help the siblings resolve the issue. It’s a heart-warming success story that’s inspired a lot of our kababayans in their quest to attain the American Dream.
I just want to say to Dr. Brookshire, you are one great lady. You are truly the Beautiful Smile Diva!
( Published on June4, 2009 in Asian Journal Las Vegas p. B4 )
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