Empty Space

Today I said goodbye to an old acquaintance. I have lost a tooth. This tooth has been with me ever since it made it's appearance sometime after my baby teeth fell out. I don't know when that was. I don't remember when this tooth made it's way through the gums and became a permanent part of my life. To tell you the truth, I paid homage to it a few times a day with a brush, but never really gave it much thought as an individual. When this tooth decided to make in impression on me, it decided to do so in a such a way that I could not ignore it as an individual any longer. There was this abscess that skirted the sinus cavity. There was a cyst on the root. There was the root canal that was ineffective. And there were three dentists ... Each more specialized than the last. Today the oral surgeon placed a small needle into the top of my hand. I think it was less than 60 seconds before I was submerged in a world of anesthesia. I knew nothing except being awakened and told that it was over. I've been through a lot with that tooth, to have our relationship end in such a cloudy murky way. But my tongue tells me that my experience with that tooth is now ended. Permanently. In between pain medication today, I have had moments when I wondered how I would make it down the next buffet line without my old friend. Oh...So now he's an old friend? Someone I didn't even notice before he started making waves. I guess what's done is done and we'll see how it all comes out. I could make some spiritual applications here ... How we ignore God until we need him ... Or ... Even how we have people in our lives that we really do not recognize as so important until they are gone. But I'll leave that to the reader. I am about to go take another pain pill and see if tomorrow I can learn to live with my new empty space.