If you are wondering why I slurp and spit when I talk.... and some thoughts on aging

Yep, this is me right now.

Ouch!

And Uck!

A while back, I carelessly jumped up on a stool to get something out of a cabinet (without realizing the door had been left open) and whacked myself in the face. I had a bloody nose, black eye, but my mouth looked fine, even though that is where it hurt the most.

Then, one day, weeks after the incident, I took a bite of a popsicle. And my front tooth flew out of my mouth, bounced off a door, and ricocheted across the room. Apparently, I'd damaged the root when I smacked my face into the cabinet door, and the tooth was just waiting for a reason to fling itself of my mouth.

My dentist gave me a temp that was my own tooth glued to something that looks like a bleach tray, which I had to take out if I wanted to eat. Then, he had this temporary partial made, which I was quite happy with even though I don't talk, or eat well with it. I've been practicing saying "Five, fat fairies in the food forest sat sipping cider slushies."

My "f"s have gotten a little better, but my "s"s still sound slurpy.

Since then, I've had some reconstructive surgery, and hopefully will have the two front teeth redone this summer. Somehow, messing with one, messes with the other front tooth too. Sadly, I had just gone through major repairs on these two teeth and surrounding gums a year ago. And now am paying for the same two teeth to be redone again. And the specialist has warned me that I won't get the same look, that it can't look as natural as before.

I keep telling myself that I am extremely lucky to have good dental insurance, and money to pay the deductible. That while this is unpleasant, much worse things could happen, and if it doesn't look as good as before, at least I don't have to be without a tooth forever. Since I've lost my own tooth, I've noticed other people without teeth, and I have a feeling that they might not be as lucky as I am, and are not getting theirs fixed any time soon. Or getting such a nice looking, temporary solution like I have.

Still, I've been a bit down about it all. I'm really trying to not let this gap in my smile stop me from smiling. I've also been nervous about the dental appointments, which isn't like me at all. I don't mind dental work, but this time, I've been thrown by it.

And while at first, I was horrified when Dewdrop started playing with the crepey folds on my neck like I was made of play dough, I soon got over it and laughed with her and realized that this would be a happy memory for her, that she would always think of her Grammy's neck as something entertaining, and that that Grammy's lap was a good place to be. And I know how much she loves play dough.

My tooth will be fine, my smile will be fine. I have a lot of reasons to smile and a lot of people to smile with.

So what if it doesn't look as good as it was before, most of me isn't as good as I was before anyway. It seems like weekly, I see or feel something age, slip, ache, or change somewhere in my body.

Still, I do have some vanity that is bothered by all of it. The tooth trauma has been a little quite depressing. But I'll get over it.

And the grand fairies kind of like it. I can play Nanny McPhee or be a wicked witch when I slide my temporary tooth out. I'll just need a stick on wart to complete the picture. Or just wait a few weeks and see what nature provides as my sun loving youth comes back to haunt my aging skin....