The Loss of a Close Friend

There are very few who could say they've been with me through as much as a friend that I lost on Tuesday of this week. For the last almost exactly 17 years we have been what you might call inseperable. This friend has held on tight through thick and thin, stuck to me in rough times and helped to keep me on the straight, if not so much narrow, path. But on Tuesday, I had to say goodbye forever. You'd think this would be a very sad time, but really it was mostly just odd. You see, the dental hygenist managed to pop off my permanent wire retainer that had been behind my front bottom teeth since Dr. Stier cemented it there 17 years and three weeks ago, just before I graduated from high school. My tongue hasn't felt the back of the front of my teeth in over half of my life and frankly it has just felt terribly odd.

Not to fear--- I'll be getting a new friend next week to help keep me in line. Or my teeth in line, that is. A new fangled thing known as a clear plastic retainer that I can wear every few nights to make sure those painfully straightened teeth stay that way. Nothing can ever replace my old friend, but this will have to do. The other good news? The dentist office is paying for the new retainer since they popped off the old one and now I can floss my front teeth without having to thread the flosser through my gums! I realize that I was in such shock (not to mention late to pick up the kids because of the whole fiasco) that I didn't even say goodbye to my old friend. To make up for my lack I thought I'd write this little eulogy in loving-- no, rather thankul memory of my faithful retainer who managed to make it through thick, thin and rough foods and kept my teeth lined up like good little soldiers. May you have a pleasant and easy retirement... farewell!