Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Uncle's teeth

My uncle had false teeth. And they didn't fit him very well. They would snap and pop when he ate. Either he didn't believe in Dentu-Grip or he couldn't afford it.

I remember one time we were driving across the prairie in his pickup truck. He was driving and I was in the passenger seat. I got a little concerned driving around with him. After all, he was pretty old. This was on a dirt road in the middle of a ranch. It was like he didn't understand what gear to put the truck into. When we started out he just moved the shifter around until it went into a gear and we started going. He'd put it in 3rd gear or something and let out the clutch. The truck would lurch and slowly go faster and faster until we were going about 40 or so. It was freaking me out. Of course there was no telling him. Well, one time I did tell him that he should slow down and to my surprise he did.

I looked over at him as we were bouncing along. His hands were clinching the steering wheel and he was looking straight forward. He had his mouth open and he was straining his lips to hold his false teeth in place.

One time I went on a trip with him and we stayed in a small roadside motel. It was out in the middle of nowhere. Our beds were seperated by a small night stand with a lamp on it. I woke up in the middle of the night and turned on the lamp and there they were, his teeth in a glass of water staring at me. And the odd thing about it was that they looked just like him,.. without everything but his teeth.

2 comments:

Megan said...

We had a guy that worked on the ranch for us who use to keep his teeth in the sink at night. It always scared me when I would get up in the middle of the night to ge a drink of water. Also, he didnt use any glue to keep them, so they too clicked. Maybe it was a thing the old timers did.

don said...

One good thing about these modern times is how dental care has improved.

Good to hear from you Megan. Hope your back is better.