The Braces Came Off And All Hell Broke Loose
by Debra A. Barone
Monday, March 14, 2005
Not rated by the Author.
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My son got his braces off today....
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My son got his braces off today.
I walked out the front door, purse in one hand, digital camera in the other.
I picked my son up from school and off we were, to the dentist’s office.
“Smile”, I said as we enter the dentist’s office.
“Mom”…..
“Well, I want a before and after picture. C’mon, smile for me”.
He flashes a bright, tinselly smile at me. Fantastic.
His name is called and I wait anxiously in the waiting room,
reading Oprah’s magazine, not really comprehending any of it.
An hour goes by flooded with my thoughts…
“What if his teeth aren’t straight?”
“What if they are too yellow and he needs whitening?”
“What if one of the braces they take off goes down his throat and he chokes?”
“Stop!”
After almost two hours, my son saunters into the waiting room,
With a big, beautiful, white smile for me.
“Smile”, I say, as I aim my camera.
He obliges and says, “Let’s go out into the hallway where the light is better.”
He stands tall, pushes his chest out and smiles
And smiles…..click
And smiles………click, click.
Fantastic.
Back to school he goes to show off his new smile, his whole new look.
A few hours later I get a call on my cell phone.
“Ms. Parrish?”
“Yes, this is she. Who is this?”
“This is Officer Adams from the police department’
“Yes, what is it?”
“I have your son here with me…he’s OK. He took his brother’s truck for a drive.
Now you understand, Ms. Parrish, that your son only possesses a learner’s permit and….”
“What?! MY son was driving his brother’s truck, just now, in the street?”
“Yes, ma'am”
“Officer, this is not like him. He has never done anything like this before.”
“I know, ma'am.”
“He just got his braces off today, for God’s sake….you think maybe that made him do what he did”
“Well, I don’t know about that, ma'am”.
I am thinking to myself, when they pulled the braces off, did some of my son’s brain cells somehow fall out?
“Ms. Parrish, what would you like me to do? I don’t want to give him a ticket..it will
only hurt him when he does get his license. But I want him to know how serious this is”.
“Officer, lecture him and lecture him good; please. I want him to know that this is unacceptable.”
“I will, ma’am and I think the wrath of you will be worse than from me.”
Oh, yes, I am thinking, oh yes.
My son, the one with the braceless smile, gets on the phone and whispers to me,
“I’m scared, Mom…I am soooo scared”.
“You should be, Why did you do something so stupid?!”
“I forgot my book at school, Mom, and I didn’t want to walk back”.
“Oh, OK, so you get your braces off today and now you’re a big shot and you think you can just do what you please?”
“Mom (laughing)….it has nothing to do with getting my braces off.”
“Well, I never want you to do something like this again.”
“Believe me, Mom, I won’t …..the officer said I get one chance and one chance only”.
“I love you and I am glad you are OK; now get home!”
“OK, Mom, love you too.”
I hang up the phone and breathe a sigh of relief. My son grew up so much today.
I pray he makes it to 20.
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| Reviewed by Karen Lynn Vidra, The Texas Tornado |
3/15/2005 |
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Great story! Well done!
(((HUGS))) and much love, your Tx. friend, Karen Lynn. :D |
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| Reviewed by Barbara Terry |
3/15/2005 |
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uhm yeah maybe (giggles). If my step-son ever did anything that foolish when he was a teenager, I would have had him within an inch of his life. This is a fine write Debra, and should be posted in every classroom from first grade through twelve, and the students made to read it when they enter the class and before they leave. Maybe then some of what you wrote here, will sink in. We can only hope. May the Lord be with you always, and at your side constantly. With much love, peace, & (((HUGS))), Barbie
"If I have to...Then I may as well be. |
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| Reviewed by Michelle Kidwell Power In The Pen |
3/14/2005 |
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A great write
God Bless
Michelle! |
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