Elle lost a tooth a few weeks back. Front and center.  Not her first lost-tooth, but definitely her biggest lost-tooth.  Grandma Red, who has been the family tooth-extractor for decades, did the honors and presented Elle with 

her treasure.

Well, it happened to be a particularly busy day, Grandma Red’s birthday was coming up.  Lindsey was visiting and her kids were with us.  We decided to go to Thomas Market and each kid…there were four…would buy something they loved or something they knew Grandma Red loved.  They got their items which included Raisin Bran and Diet Coke.  Then we went to my place and wrapped the gifts.  All was going well, when Elle discovered she no longer had her tooth!  Suddenly, life was not so good.

“I can’t find my tooth,” she wailed.

“Well, let’s look through the wrapping paper,” I suggested.  We looked.  There were a lot of ends and pieces of paper and ribbon and tape and string and more pieces of paper.  It wasn’t our lucky day.  No tooth.

“Did you have it when we got home?”

“I don’t know.  I don’t remember.  I’ve lost teeth before, and I’ve never been able to save even one.  I really, really wanted to save this one!”  (I think there is a reason she has never managed to hang on to even one.)

“I’m sure the Tooth Fairy will come even if you don’t have the tooth.”

“I want the tooth, not the money,” she replied.  Grandma Red had already given her five bucks, so money wasn’t on her mind.  She wanted that tooth, and she was not going to rest till she found it.  We checked the car.  We went back and looked at the store.  We ran Rumba hoping she would suck up the missing tooth.  No luck.  When her dad came home, he assured her it would turn up.  Well, it didn’t.

As the days passed, Elle’s disappointment in losing that tooth slowly dissipated and she moved on.  Isn’t that how life is?  We all lose things, opportunities, and even loved ones.  Those loses leave holes.  Time softens the loss and eventually we move forward, but we never forget, even when the proverbial tooth grows back. When Elle smiles, I think of that tooth and the couple days of turmoil it caused, but then I smile back and just appreciate her toothless grin.  Life is Good even when we experience loss.