Tooth Aches Forever

TEETH FOREVER PROBLEMS

When I was a child, I was never taken to the dentist. I was told it was expensive and unnecessary.  As we ate a very sugary diet and I didn’t get a lot of protein, all through high school, my teeth hurt. My mother gave me asprin to chew. It was disgusting.

Finally when I was 17 and working for the telephone company on the dirty cockroach ridden long distance board, I took myself to a dentist that was nearby.  He looked at my rotting teeth and asked how much money I had.  He said it wasn’t enough for fillings, let along crowns, so he pulled three of my teeth.  That’s how it is when you’re poor in the US.

I spent a great deal of my freshman year at the U of Michigan in dentist chairs at the school of dentistry, where work was free, as they practiced on you.  I have tried to keep up my teeth ever since. I have spent a small fortune on my teeth and they are still prone to break, causing constant problems.

My father never forgave my mother for not giving him a son, and my mother was disappointed that she didn’t give him the son he wanted too. I was more or less bearable while I was a toddler and a little girl. But I didn’t grow into being Shirley Temple, which was the ideal of my parents if you had to be female.  Instead at around age 9, I caught the German measles followed by rhematic fever. The only doctor I ever saw till I left home came in, examined me, said I’d be dead in a week, $10 please.  Somehow, my grandmother, who when I was growing up, lived with us part of each year, saved me with her shtetl knowledge. I was weak and pale blue and so skinny I barely cast a shadow until I began to regain strength around age 12.  At one point, my mother told me if I kept getting sick, she would drop me off at Henry Ford hospital and leave me there for good.

I understand why I spent so much of my life seeking love. Never really found it till Woody and I got together. There was never a shortage of men or women who wanted to fuck me, but I’m obviously not easy to love. I never forget how lucky I was to find Woody. It freed me to put more of my efforts into my writing. I was always productive and driven, but I got far more done with Woody. He  understood that I needed space and time to write and let me have it. And he makes me happy. I was seldom happy before.

All the snow is gone, even from the gardens that were the last to lose it.  I started peppers, hot, frying and bell this last week and also Oriental and Italian eggplants.  After they germinate,  paste tomatoes and sun gold cherry tomatoes are next for me to start.  Also Brussels sprouts – which we  hope to save from the rabbits who ate them down to the ground while they were just six or seven  inches tall.  We had lovely mild weather this week. Today, it’s cooler.  But nothing like it was.

The cats are slowly adjusting to daylight savings time. It’s hard for us too, but I love it. I would like to have it year round. It gives us time to work outside as spring comes on. I like light, as much of it as I can have.

The witch hazel has been in rich golden bloom for a couple of weeks – normally it blooms in February.  A bit later year, but always the first flowers of the season for us.