Today, my entire dental office was envious of my mother's trip to Italy with me. The receptionist, whom I adore and never fails to make me laugh, told me I need to find a man and that we could meet some great ones in Italy.
"You have a husband," I reminded her.
"That's no problem, honey, we'll be in Italy," she shot back.
I told her that I think my mom would be a tad disappointed if I didn't take her as planned and she reluctantly said that she'd settle for the pictures.
There was a time when no one in my family visited the dentist and despite my grandmother's pleas for me to become one, I opted to not look into people's mouths (at least professionally) and instead wandered aimlessly for years looking for a career. My mother, and the whole family by default because of one crazy doctor who never used novocain, had taken a long hiatus from the dental office. The day Rosemarie lost a tooth when she was in her 40's began a long and painful process to recoup the dental health that was let to slide for so many years.
Today, I've straightened and whitened my teeth and made a lot of dentists very rich and happy. I've often wondered what would have happened if I followed my grandmother's advice. I do know that watching my mom marvel at all the sights I'm going to show, though, is even better knowing that unlike my grandfather, my mother's smile won't be coming back at me through a glass of water.
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