Friday Flashback

I hesitate to share this 'cause it's kinda creepy/gross, but here ya go. My younger sister Sandra is the 5th of 5. My mother had never intended to be so prolific, but hey, these things happen. As we all passed our 4th, 5th, 6th birthdays, mom saved our first lost tooth. No tooth fairies for this crowd, not that I remember anyway. Teeth fell out, new teeth grew in, live carried on. It struck me as odd that my mom saved our teeth, I remember coming across 5 little envelopes in her jewelry box and being totally skeeved at their contents. Serves me right for snooping I guess.

One day, the teeth were gone. Guess mom came to her good senses, right? Oooooooh, no. The teeth had been sent to Holland, to Grootmoe my grandmother, to meet their final destiny. Months passed, and that Christmas there were three extra presents under the tree. Yeah! (Insert blissful ignorance.) Mom opened hers first, though I know she knew what it was since the gifts were wrapped in the same paper as the shampoo, socks, and baby powder she wrapped to augment the truckload of "real" presents. "Oooh, look! Isn't this the most beautiful thing ever?!" I don't know if those were her actual words, probably not, she speaks pretty plain English with a heavy Dutch accent. It was indeed a beautiful gold chain, with a very beautiful, delicately spun gold cage. And inside the cage, suspended from fine gold wires? 5 teeth. I shiver even now when I think of it.

To say that I was less than enthusiastic about opening my own gift is an understatement. I knew it wasn't going to be one of *my* teeth, there had only been 5 teeth in the little jewelry box envelopes. No, inside *my* gift was another lovely chain, silver this time, and suspended from it? A tooth. "It's MINE!" mom chirped "Grootmoe saved my baby teeth so that she could do this when I had children of my own!" Gee. Thanks? I don't know Sandra's reaction. I was far too caught up in my own revulsion to check out her response. I'm ashamed to admit that I "lost" my tooth pendant at the earliest opportunity, but kept the pretty chain. I was 9, forgive me. I know where it is, actually, though there will be no way to get it until the house I grew up in falls to the ground - it's dropped down inside a structural wall.

Thinking back now, the pendants were undoubtably hand created, and probably cost a lot of money. My mother's father's family owned a large old chain of jewellery stores in Holland, and I suspect some connection was made there. Grootmoe was not a wealthy woman by any means, but always did have nice jewellery. She might have only been related by marriage (and it was a short marriage, my grandfather died when my mother was 4) but perhaps her name carried enough clout to get the family discount. I really don't know. I just wish it had been anything but teeth. 'Cause ew... Mom still proudly wears hers though. I should ask her for a picture.