Eulogy for a front tooth 1951....2018
I was not her best friend ,I may have even been her acciDENTAL enemy.
Yesterday... I let her down just one time to many. Over nearly 7 decades I had used her,thoughtlessly, to chew ,rip and snap through more than she could handle.Due to me.she literally 'bit off more than she could chew,' : Cotton,wool ,string threads, stubborn plastic wrappings,foil ties,finger nails ,a rose stem and the paint on the ends of my primary school's pencils.ONE time, after watching an idiot on TV open a coke bottle with his teeth,I even,unsuccessfully, tried to do that !
As an infant,she was there with me ,waiting patiently (in the wings) for my first milk -tooth to drop out. Afterward, ,she arrived ,strong,healthy, in her snow-white ivory coat.I never stopped to appreciate what a brilliant asset she was.I bathed her with sugar almost every day,licorice,chocolate,jelly-babies,jams,puddings,Chelsea buns,pavlova, toffee apples,and endless bottles of coke,Pepsi,ginger ale,and lemonade....I smothered her with an excess of sweets and she suffered through it until it literally ,slowly, bit by bit, broke her.
Because of me,she was drilled and numbed by the dentist many times.However,she never quit,she just kept hanging in there, putting up with all my crap,only complaining a few times by poking me with a throbbing (but quickly medicated) ache. I ignored all her hints.
Without me noticing, she bore witness to my first kiss,she was there, visible, in every smile I gave.There as each of my children gave me their first hand-drawn Mother's day card, and there, visible each time, as I held a newborn grandchild.
Though ( selfishly) I never thought of her during those good times.She was always there, framed by a smile , in those amazing moments.
My dear old unappreciated friend,yesterday, I bit through something hard on the 22nd June and finally, 'she bit the bullet.'. As they tried to remove you ,they broke you almost in half. The young dentist exclaimed:Well,I have just had my weekly work-out!' I then laughed,my poor old tooth had certainly given her a good fight.
I know my tooth wanted to stay with me,its loyalty to me was unbelievable.
It should have given up on me years ago.
After they pulled it out of me,they placed it on a tray near the dentist chair.It was broken in half.I asked to see it more closely.The dentist pointed out the flaws in it,and then she showed me the exposed nerve.It was bright red,tiny,I believe it was its heart.How did such a tiny thing take so much abuse and still work so diligently for me? LOVE... is the ONLY answer...its unrequited devotion to me.
I asked the dental nurse if I could wrap it in a tissue and take it home with me. I didn't want to leave that part of me there.
'Sorry',the dental nurse said,'that is against hospital policy. We can't let you take it.'
I felt such loss,my wonderful ivory friend,it was only then I fully appreciated all your work and help. I did not want to go home without you.
The next day,your lifelong companion,my tongue,went crazy without you.She kept poking her head in the blood filled hole that was once your home.It keeps expecting you to return,it searches hour by hour. Alas,you can never return.
I know now that it is to late to say I am 'sorry.' I am not able to make amends.I am unable to bury you under a beautiful rose bush as I would have so loved to do .I will however always remember you and always miss you.
You will never know how much you mean to me. I love you and it is now only poetic justice that I will never be able to have a confident smile again .You were the best part of my smile.
You were the beauty that I didn't see..You will always be missed by me.I can't change the past or give you the 'thank you' that you deserve (or take back my greed for past sweets)but at least I can write this tribute to you.Rest in peace now,and...if pulled out old teeth get to go to Heaven,please,please,please....stay away from the sugary angel cake,it's a devil in disguise.!
I found your story filled with imagination and vivid description of the life of a tooth to the very end. Based on the dates you listed, Eva must have read another story. Tooth loss is all too common.
I lost a tooth in my 20s and after seeing how strong the tooth was, only needed a cavity filled, I got angry and didn't see a dentist for 27 years. Thankfully, I haven't lost any more teeth, but I have had one required grinding down, a root canal, and a cap that now resembles the original tooth perfectly.
Aside from the need to clean up the spacing and a bit of the punctuation, I found the story thoroughly delightful and I can identify the abuse we give our teeth.
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Destiny's Daughter by Frances Altman highlights events in the life of Mary Edwards Walker, maverick suffragist, Civil War doctor and only woman Medal of Honor recipient.
