Sunlight Awaits

One of my favorite drives is along the river road. Doesn't matter if I am headed to Marshall or headed to I 26, the twists and turns, the river, the beauty and yes the ugly enthrall me and the huge dump trucks that travel way too fast on that corridor scare me. It was mainly overcast skies yesterday yet the light variances among the curves and straightaways is noticeable even on cloudy days. So it was along the river road yesterday that a few considerations came to mind as the road bent and curved and the lighting went from light gray to steel gray to dusk, yet is was only about 10:20 am.

You see, yesterday, I was on the way to the dentist office for a second attempt to seat the crowns on the implants. It wasn't the second trip that took my attention, it was the fact this journey probably began around the time I was sixteen years old. My mom took me to our childhood dentist. The details are not crisp in parts of this story like was this a special trip or a routine one? The appointment was after school though and after the examination, our dentist called another dentist in the med center that did extractions and asked if he would take us at this later hour. He agreed and we were off to his office where he extracted the tooth in question, on the upper left side of my mouth. It was a Novocaine pulling and that means you hear every rip and tear as they work on that tooth. Afterwards he asked me if I had experienced repeated blows to that side of my face because in his evaluation all those top teeth felt a little loose. I looked over at my mother and she gave me that little helpless look like...please don't mention anything...so my response to the doctor was this, I play volleyball and I've had several hard blows to the face. He seemed satisfied with the answer and this is before en vogue questions like, do you feel safe in your home but he volunteered his opinion that I would lose all those top teeth over the span of my life. I don't remember his name and I never saw him again, but that dentist was certainly correct. Almost all my dental troubles have been that upper left side.

You see, my father was a hitter, a slapper of the face...sometimes maybe even a little punch thrown in when he thought he could get away with it...and he always got away with it. Those hard slaps and hits were usually used in "learning a lesson" type situation. So whether it was learning about nouns, adverbs and adjectives or having door or drawer closing lessons, the hit to the face was the choice learning device to use in his arsenal . An aside, when I was in my 50's, my father wanted me to proof and make corrections on a letter he had written...his grammar and punctuation usage was atrocious. As we went over the mistakes, you know the thought came to mind to use his teaching techniques....but of course, I didn't.

Those early years of battering my face took its toll. Gradually, beginning in 1977 through about 2009, all those teeth were pulled. The oral surgeon advised we wait till all teeth were gone to begin the restorative work with implants. Then, life happened and other things needed to be tended to and the implants were put on a back burner. In 2014 we were beginning to start the process and when we came home from Western North Carolina in September with an accepted offer on a house, I returned the implant journey on a back burner.

Last year, Roy and I decided we needed to begin this journey once again. So since the spring of 2017, this has been a top five item on the health path and almost everything that has been successful has had to go to a second try both in putting in the hardware of the implant and then with the seating of the crowns.

So, yesterday all those twists and turns and light changes on the road gave pause for remembrance and then gratitude for surgeons and dentists attention to detail to finally make this moment possible. Over the years I have spent a whole lot of time in a dental chair and have experienced all kinds of dental work, some of it very painful and I never cried, I never shed a tear. That record came to an end yesterday morning, because after the seating and grinding and polishing, I sat there in that dental chair and wept tears of joy...notice I did not write the ubiquitous "with tears streaming down my face," Now, I can smile big again or not say when being photographed, I'd rather have the pic taken from this side.

It was a little strange last night when I sat down to eat my supper...still getting used to being able to use both sides. This morning, it seemed less strange and surely in the coming days, never another thought will be given but I will remain and always be thankful for these implants. Praising God for  His supply, thanking God for a husband that encouraged me, repeatedly, to begin this expensive journey.

While checking out at the front desk yesterday, they asked if there was a reason we had a credit on our account. I thought she said it was $12.50, so I said let it ride...but no it was not that amount. You can move the decimal point over two spaces to the right. Woohoo! They will be sending a refund. Now that was an unexpected surprise. Kind of like when you're driving the river road and gray has been the companion to the trip and then you come around a curve and sunlight awaits.