Pulling Teeth

We’ve all heard the expression “Pulling teeth”. Have you ever really thought about the pain associated with pulling teeth? It’s not until you actually experience the act of the teeth pulling that you fully understand the pain associated with it. When I was in college I had the wonderful blessing of having all four of my wisdom teeth pulled. Fortunately they knocked me out, so I don’t remember much about the experience. I’m told that the narcotics made me act and say strange things. I do remember feeling out of control while on the drugs and after the first few hours I decided to stop taking the narcotics and began taking Tylenol.

When my brother Grant had his teeth pulled the nurses thought he was one of the funniest patients they had ever had. After the surgery the nurse had my mom go back to the recovery room to be with Grant while he was waking up. What my mom wasn’t counting on was the horrible singing she could hear clear across the building. As she got closer to Grant’s room she realized it wasn’t some drunk homeless man outside, but it was her son on drugs. The drugs they used to knock Grant out during the surgery caused him to become very happy. As soon as he woke up he began singing Beach Boy song. If you know the lack of musical talent in my family, then you know the singing wasn’t pretty.

A couple weeks ago Chris came home from the dentist with news that he would need to have all four wisdom teeth pulled immediately, as they needed to come out in order for our dentist to do work on the surrounding teeth. Chris was pretty concerned about the idea of being put to sleep and not being in control during that short time. Being the wonderful, supporting wife that I am I tried reassuring him that things would be okay, also I made sure that our life insurance was all squared away. haha!

The surgery only lasted 30 minutes and as the wife I was able to stay in the room right up to the last minute before the procedure. Then they allowed me to come back as soon as they were finished pulling the teeth. As I walked towards the recovery area I half expected to hear Chris singing Beach Boys. You know you love someone when you find it cute when they're sitting in a chair with the mouth wide open and drool dripping from their mouth. Okay, it wasn't that bad, but close. I proceeded to try and wake Chris up. What I wasn't counting on was the fact that he had gauze in his mouth, which made it difficult to talk, add that to the fact that he was still heavily medicated and his thought process was not completely back to normal. He reminded me of a man I used to babysit who had Downs Syndrome. Chris had me laughing so hard, I actually had tears pouring down my face. Over and over Chris told me that he loved me and he proceeded to try and kiss me, but due to the numbness of his face and the medication in his system he couldn't do it. That made me laugh even more.

It's during times like this when you find yourself walking your drugged-up husband across a busy road (our apartment is walking distance to the oral surgeons) that you're reminded of how much you love that person.

It's times like this when you find yourself running all over town to pick up the medication for your spouse that you remember why you married that person.

It's times like this when you find yourself feeding the love of your life and you are reminded of that love.

It's times like this when you find yourself helping your husband undress because his motor skills are slightly off and you reflect on the qualities that you love the most about that person.

It's during those times that the "For Better or Worse" part of the marriage vow takes on new meaning and becomes a reality. It's during these times when you find yourself falling more in love with that person you have committed to. Why is it that we find ourselves falling more in love with one another? Is it because we find that we appreciate that person so much more? Is it because we long for that person to be healthy/whole again?

Like most men, Chris hates being out of control. While we were walking home from the oral surgeons I had to help Chris walk across the street. This simple act bothered Chris, because he felt that as the man of the household he should have been helping me cross the street. For once I was able to serve him.

This small chapter in our life showed me our need for one another and the amazing blessing that the institute of marriage is. For as long as we live Chris and I have someone by our side, someone to feed us when we can't feed ourselves, we have someone to help walk us across the busy highways, and someone to stand by and serve us when we need that extra support. What a blessing! This experience also gave us a glimpse into our future and what the retirement years could be like. haha!!