I had what I would call a real head turning, flipping day. I got slammed with two things that remind me how old I’ve gotten.

I went to the store to buy an alcoholic drink. Most stores check your I.D., even if you look very old, because they need it to sell alcohol.

Well, I got up to the cashier and started fiddling in my wallet to find my I.D. But, alas, the cashier stopped me from doing that telling me, “Oh, don’t worry. Congratulations you made it into the ‘look older than 35’ club!” Me; “Well, I don’t know if congratulations are in order.” He said, “Well, you don’t really want to go back in time now do you?”

That’s a tough question for me. Would I want to be young again? Part of me says “yes!” Who wouldn’t? But I realize that if I could take all my knowledge with me, that would be perfect. However, starting over and learning about life, relationships, and myself from scratch? No thanks. I’m happy with where I am now. I appreciate my achievements, even if society doesn’t always recognize them. I have good stories and wisdom to share. And as the saying goes, “Youth is wasted on the young,” attributed to George Bernard Shaw, who said, “Youth is the most precious thing in life; it’s a shame it has to be wasted on young folks.” Youth is valuable, but so is age. It’s unfortunate that wisdom often goes unheeded by those who are younger.

Anyway, as the day progressed I had to go to the dentist for an emergency appointment. My bottom front four teeth are loose, and I wanted to see what I could do. I thought maybe a stint to anchor them to each other helping the tooth root get stronger, or just keep up waterpik-ing.

After taking x-rays and chatting with the dental assistant, the Dr. dentist came in to let me know she had reviewed my x-rays.

Result, they can’t save those teeth. There’s bone loss making them loose. She mentioned, “We’ll probably have to think about dentures. We can schedule an extraction and then….” but I couldn’t focus on the rest. I only came to when she asked, “Are you ok?”

I imagined my lifelong teeth and dreaded hearing them being pulled. I’ve had some pulled before, like wisdom teeth and a molar, and I cringe at the memory of that crunching sound.

I heard that the whole process would take about 3 months to finish, and I would have to go without my bottom teeth. I’m not vain, but it’s still a little disheartening to know I’m going to have a vacant lower jaw in full view.

I joined a Reddit room about people who recently got dentures, or just about to, and how they feel about it. I know that on the ed (acronym for extraction day I’ve learned) that there will be some emotions that will happen. But for the most part people were happy they did it. Some even said they have better smiles now.

I don’t want to go through this or deal with it, but I’ve got to. It will happen some time anyway, with my teeth slowly falling out on their own.

I’m now in the look older than 35 plus club, and I need to get dentures. That’s how my day went. Maybe I do wish I was young again…..