It has been a whirlwind week, with so much of our dear family coming together to honor our mom and celebrate her end of life together. We have cried, hugged, laughed, and shared numerous stories about our mom, which led to other stories about our dad, and then extended out to our childhood and growing up years together. We are blessed to have been raised in a home where love abounded, and we were taught to have fun with each other. We were used to laughing with each other, and more importantly taught to laugh at ourselves.
In the last few years of mom’s life, her false teeth became the focal point every once in awhile. She had a habit of removing her bottom teeth and wrapping them in a napkin or kleenex when she was eating. I’m not sure if they bothered her, or she just plain didn’t want to wear them. I asked her a few times if she needed to get a new set so they would fit better, but she was firm that she did not wish to do that.
We went on search for those teeth quite often. Usually we would find them hiding behind something on the desk in her bedroom, or in the bathroom, or wrapped up on a plate with some food. Sometimes they were found in her van, nestled on the front seat with a candy bar or some graham crackers after she had been out and about. One time they were gone for three days, with my husband spotting them under the entertainment center! She loved to snack and stay up late watching TV after we went to bed. She would cover her lap with a towel to hold her food, and she must have gotten up to shut off the TV, towel in hand, and they fell out and tumbled under there. Who knows?
One of the funniest times was a year ago on the way to our niece, Bethany’s, wedding in Omaha. It was the end of December on a frigid morning. Mom was riding with us in the back seat of our van. She and I had gotten out for a few minutes at Walmart, then got back in and headed south. We were only a few blocks into our journey when she yelled, “Where are my teeth?” Dan pulled over, she searched, but couldn’t find them. She was sure she had kicked them out of the car by Walmart! We turned around, went back to where we had parked, and just when the car stopped, she exclaimed, “Here they are!” They were wrapped up and hiding on the floor near her boots.
This past Saturday all of my five siblings, their spouses, and many nieces, nephews, and grandkids were at our home hanging out together. Everyone enjoyed taking turns going into mom and grandma’s room, claiming some small treasure to remember her by. It was fun to see what some of the youngest grandkids chose to tote home with them. In the middle of our working on funeral thank yous, playing crazy games in the living room, and munching on snacks, someone prepared a funny prank.
It was actually our daughter, Ranell, that found it later that evening after everyone had left for home or the motel. In a glass in the bathroom, someone had put a fake pair of false teeth that grow in water! (My sister, Julie, maybe???) Mom officially lost her real bottom teeth about six months ago. We have never found them, even after cleaning out her van and bedroom now. Julie bought those crazy bright red plastic teeth for mom last Christmas as a joke. It was pretty funny to see them floating in the glass looking as big as life! Mom for sure would have laughed about that.
Laughter is good for our souls. Healing. Soothing. I recommend it as a daily occurrence! And do it out loud. Belly laughs are the best. They sure help get rid of all the tension that sometimes builds up in our daily lives. “ A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.” Ecclesiastes 3:4 Our family has done all of that these past couple weeks.
lbeerman68@gmail.com
