Like many kids who grew up in the forties, we had no idea we would live so long. Why in my day, anybody over forty was old. Diabetes and a bad heart do to Rheumatic fever took two of my aunts, Janice at 36 and Sally at forty two. My Aunt Bella died in her mid-fifties do to a new disease, stomach cancer.
I couldn't wait until school was over, usually at three o'clock. Seldom did I pay any attention to the teacher. My eyes focused on the clock and I prayed the big hand would hit the twelve, sooner than later.
My Monarch bike took me up the street to the Day Light Market. Twenty five cents got me a hot pastrami on rye, a coke. But up the Beverly Wood Hills stood my favorite Mom and Pop store. The one room wooden store beckoned, each and every day.
Mother Edith always gave me an extra nickle for candy. I needed to munch on something to remove the ugly taste of school. I could not read in grade school-you see. My left eye was dead-that is until high school. Of course my Mom never forced me to brush my teeth, yet she did take me to my six month check-up with Doctor Isgur. (Till this day, I can still smell his breath.)
Wax-lips were my favorite. Oh how I loved to munch on the wax until my teeth squeezed out every last bit of juice. Why it was even better than Double Bubble or Bazooka Gum. even better than Double Bubble or Bazooka Bubble Gum. Sometimes I would purchase a package of Top's baseball cards. Several slices of gum hid inside the cardboard baseball cards. I must have looked like a chipmunk walking my bike up the hill from Robertson.
And that brings us to today. After losing most of my teeth, as well as my bank account, I needed something to fill two gaps next to my four front teeth. The four needed reinforcements. Besides, too many interesting gals had bid-me-good-by when I opened my mouth. Mom always told me to marry one with sound teeth. Of course mine made no sound anymore.
I am now in Oceanside. My $250-copay appliance is inside a strip of aluminum. Smile Better is off of College and Oceanside Boulevard. Dr. Mudd enters the room. He had been involved with street maintenance until he got a grant to go to dental school. He was the only dentist to work on my daughter. No Los Angles dentist would work on her artistic mouth.
An earlier job in street maintenance made him handy with a dental drill and pick. He had excavated and extracted several of my inflamed teeth the last two years. I did not wish to die like many do today on the streets of San Diego. Dr. Mudd did not fool around, what with two other victims in two adjoined rooms waiting for his pick and shovel
"Dr. Mudd, the appliance looks great inside my mouth, but it took a beating last night. I needed to pull it out or have a heart attack. It is too cumbersome to wear but a little adjustment might be the right ticket. Look here. Perhaps you can cut this out and only use the front part of the appliance.No longer can people make out what I am talking about.
"I see no reason why I can't make it so you can eat and speak again. I will cut and make it as you wish, something to wear without tearing into your gums."
"Thank's lot Dr. Mudd. And thanks again for keeping my daughter alive." (Not edited.)
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