Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Thankful

I have recently been convicted of things I need to be thankful for. One thing I never mention but am often thoughtful of is the fact that my parents saw to it from an early age that my teeth were straightened. I believe this stems from the fact that my dad's parents did not have enough money to put braces on his teeth as a child and he was always self-conscious of his smile. So, come 2nd grade, I was in the dental chair getting fitted for my first set of retainers. From 2nd grade until 10th grade I had some form of metal in my mouth. After several retainers, multiple teeth removed, and a nice, full set of metal braces, the results is pretty nice (if I do say so myself.) Granted, one tooth is still a little off, but it gives my smile some character (and most don't notice.) I no longer have an underbite, I was able to keep all of my "adult" teeth (except my 1 lonely wisdom tooth), and I can smile knowing that people aren't going to be staring at my teeth. I know this is vane, but I am so thankful that my parents sacrificed so that I could have straight teeth. And the best part of the story...my sister and I got to spend time with my dad at the orthodontists office, watching him live out a dream of his. After all, if his daughters were going to have straight teeth, so was he.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You know, you're right, Carrie! Much of my childhood was also spent with all sorts of metal contraptions in my mouth, which was quite annoying at the time. But, if i hadn't have had them, i would have had about the worst overbite and buckteeth you could ever imagine! So, yes, that is one of those things that we don't often stop to thank God for, but certainly should.