During the last weeks of my mother’s life Cher, Margie and I lived in the condo at Harbor Square with her. It was beautiful and certainly where she wanted to spend her final days. One day she couldn’t find her dentures. We looked at every inch of the 1100 square feet, each of us, multiple times. It was gone. But, she hadn’t left the condo. So where was it? That’s still a mystery to this day.
Although I will say that one morning Betsy, mom’s good friend, came by and said that mom had come by the prior night in the early hours of the morning. We were in askance. Cher was sleeping in the bed with mom, Margie was sleeping in the living room, and I was sleeping in the entry hall. She would have had to step over me to open the door.
Obviously, she had. So, in short, her teeth could have been, and may be, anywhere.
But, mom, in her youth, had all her teeth pulled. She thought that they were so much trouble . .I guess dentistry wasn’t as painless an art as it is today . . that she had them all removed and replaced by dentures. As it turns out, this was not a panacea . . they don’t stay in, can’t bite into apples without leaving them in the apple, they are painful to the roof of the mouth and gums, etc. Like I said, this was not a panacea.
Replacements are not complete replacements. It’s not as in Star Wars when Luke loses his hand and the robotic arm was as good as the original. Replacements are what you do when you have no other choice. They are better than nothing, but they are not anywhere as good as the original.
But it is tempting.
Recently I have been given different options regarding my heart arteries which are somewhat congested. I have been told that stents or a bypass procedure would cure all the problems, and I could go on living as if it never happened.
Well, no. I know the grass is not greener in Dixon’s yard.