A tooth-ful story

When I was a foolish teen of about 14 or 15 years old, I most likely had a crush on this boy and perhaps it mattered to me what he thought about me. And he wasn't really nice to me, but I didn't know it then!

This is what the boy did one day. He held up a blank page and asked me what I saw. Obviously, I saw a blank page! Then, he put a dot on it and asked me the same question again. I told him that I saw a dot. After that brief questioning, he proceeded to let me know that I am the blank page and that dot was my teeth!

With that new found horrific knowledge, I ran off to seek my dad's assistance in getting rid of that "dot"! My dad was always doting, not dotting on me. He whisked me off to a dentist who declared that I needed to get rid of 4 teeth as there was too much crowding in my mouth and then, the solution was to have braces in to pull all the teeth together to make them look less "dotty"!

After that mouthful, let me continue on with this tooth-ful story.

A few months later, I met Eternal Boy (EB), and we soon became enchanted with each other. At that point in time, the braces became painful and I felt like EB loved me for me and I should ignore that hurtful other boy who now appeared to be superficial and not worth my attention. So, I got rid of the braces without seeing them through the recommended amount of time.

A few years later, EB got rid of me because I gained a few pounds! I already mentioned the 3 or 6 months of crying in another post. After that, I decided to not give that much importance to a guy! As luck should have it, Craigley came along. To his credit, he NEVER had any issues with my teeth or weight. In fact, he thought I was perfect in every way. He may disagree now, but that is another story for another day!

Since I have been married to Craigley, I never did the stereotypical housewife things they show in some movies - excessively indulge in myself via gyms, spas and luncheons. Like seriously, who does that? If you are down to one income, you become down to earth and dowdy! So, I let things fall apart. Given that, I do not get upset when people mistake me for Hans' grandma. From an outsider and uninformed perspective, it is quite possible.

Alright then, where is this story going?

Recently, I had to fill out a questionnaire before my dental surgery. The last question was about how happy I was with the appearance of my teeth. I answered honestly. Before the surgery, the dentist asked me the question in person since he didn't believe my answer. I told him that I was indeed happy with the appearance of my teeth. The reason I was willing to spend all that money on surgery was not to ensure my teeth looked spectacular; it was to ensure that they remained intact in my mouth!

As I age, things will begin to fall apart. Some consequences are due to negligence on my part. Some are a natural progression. I will never look the way I did when I was 16. Either I begin to accept my ageing and be happy in some sense with how it is progressing or go into miserable mode. I'd rather be happy with who I am and how I look. For sure, I need to take care of myself. However, I am not going to allow anyone else again to put a dot on a piece of paper and make that the only recognizable quality about me.

I could erase that dot or ignore it. It is my choice. And all puns aside, that is the truth!