“The grille is gone, The grille is gone away The grille is gone, The grille is gone away No more oatmeal and soup I can eat solid food again today
Those are my modified lyrics to legendary blues guitarist B.B. King’s song “The Thrill is Gone.” The original song is a sorrowful tale of love betrayed and lost. Mine is about the joy of being able to use my front teeth again.
I went back to the dentist today and got all of that stuff taken out of my mouth. The best news is that my mouth has healed enough from the surgery that I don’t have to have new packing put in.
You have no idea what great news that is…
I have had bad breath before. It is not a pleasant thing to realize. However, the packing in my mouth made my breath so bad that I couldn’t stand being near me! Seriously!
Several times in the last two weeks, I inadvertently touched my mouth with my hands only to be repulsed by the smell. I immediately left my desk to go wash my hands. It was BAD!!!
Whenever I had to talk to someone, I would keep my mouth as closed as possible and turn my face away from them or talk down towards the floor. I couldn’t stand to see tears begin flowing from their eyes or their face beginning to melt like wax. It was so bad that I began to wonder if I could “slay them with the breath of my mouth.”
So, if I couldn’t stand the smell, there was no way I was going to kiss my wife! Oh, she was willing to try…how bad could it be…
“NO WAY…”
“C’mon”
“NOT A CHANCE…”
“But I don’t care.”
“I don’t care if you don’t care. I care. I’ll kiss you on Friday.”
Well, it could just be circumstantial…
or perhaps the truth has finally come out…
You may recall that three weeks ago, I unintentionally scuttled my wife’s plans to take a trip to Tennessee. (Start here and read the next two posts) Well, she decided to leave this morning.
She said that her friend was flying in from the Virgin Islands this weekend…
What if she couldn’t bear the thought of kissing me?
What if this is just a convenient way to escape?
Maybe my version of the lyrics should really be…
“My gril (picture a sign on the boy’s treehouse forbidding entry to any member of the female species) is gone!” My gril is gone away My gril is gone My gril is gone away The smell was just too bad She just couldn’t bear to stayWell, I still enjoyed the fajitas!
