Yanking Tonsils

Here’s another memory from when I was about 5 years old: getting my tonsils out.

I don’t remember much in the way of being prepared for this. My mom took me to the hospital in the evening. My dad was probably at work. My grandparents were home with my little brother. I don’t remember much in the way of a goodbye from my mom. A nurse took me to a communal room with a television and put me in a wheelchair that was way too big for me and brought me a supper tray. I was left totally alone.

I ate my supper watching the TV. There was one of those “follow the bouncing ball” cartoons with a cowboy singing “I’ve got spurs that jingle jangle jingle” as he rolled on his spurs like wheels. After I finished eating I tried to get out of the wheelchair, but it tilted weirdly because it was so big and I was so small, so I sat back. I tried a couple more times to get out, but couldn’t.

At some point I was taken to a room with 4 cribs and was put in one. I don’t remember if the other 3 had kids in them or not. If there were others, they were asleep. And that was it. I was all alone again in a dark room. In a crib. Like a baby. I don’t remember any covers and I didn’t have my blankie OR my bunny. WHY NOT???

I could look out through the bars of the crib to the window, and there was a building with windows I could look into. It might have been a laundry for the hospital, because I could see a woman at an assembly line taking cloths of some kind and folding them, putting them back on the line. There was NOTHING ELSE TO DO BUT WATCH HER. I probably took some comfort in watching another human being. After a while, though, the cloths stopped coming, the woman left and the lights over there went out. I was desolate.

The next morning someone came to give us shots, and there were 4 of us kids in that room. One girl was so scared of the shot she pulled her arms in her gown. Just like with the dentist, I was totally silent and stoic. I don’t remember the shot. I remember being wheeled into an elevator on a gurney, and then having a wire mask placed over my face in the operating room.

When I woke up back in the crib, a nurse was there and said the babysitter was going to pick me up later. I must have been somewhat emotional by then, because I remember putting my arms around the nurse’s neck for a hug.

And that’s the end of this memory. I know that it was my favorite babysitter, Josephine that picked me up and took me home.  I don’t remember the famous “all you can eat ice cream” afterward, though. And again, this was never talked about with my parents.

Answer to the joke above: Get dressed, the doctor is taking us out tonight!

Nothing But The Tooth

When I was about 5 years old, it was noticed that I had a permanent tooth coming in behind a baby tooth that showed no inclination to come out by the usual methods. It was decided that I would need to have it pulled. At that time, my grandparents lived with us. We had very little discretionary money for a household of 6 people. My mom tried to convince me that if I let her pull my tooth, there would be money to go to Disneyland. (We lived in Bellflower, CA at the time.)

The memory I have about this was my mom coming towards me holding what looked like a nasty, rusty pair of pliers. I was backing away into my bedroom watching those pliers coming closer and closer. She kept talking about Disneyland. I didn’t want any part of it…

Change scenes now to my dad taking me to the dentist. This must have been when he was working nights and my mom working days. Neither of my grandparents drove anymore. I had my bunny with me.

Dad stayed in the waiting room while I was taken back to the patient room. I don’t remember getting any kind of shot. What I remember was the dentist coming in, leaning over me, opening my mouth and him YANKING that tooth out with no preamble or preparation. A matter of seconds. He immediately leaned over me, very close, and said something like, “Now don’t you cry or the others will hear you!!” in a very stern voice. I was totally silent. Cotton was packed in the area and I went out to my dad. He was sitting in a chair reading a paper with Bunny in his lap. Since I couldn’t talk with all the blood and cotton in my mouth I just stood in front of him until he noticed me. He was surprised I was there so quietly.

We drove home and I still had my mouth closed tightly as it filled with blood and saliva. When we got out of the car my dad seemed to realize what was going on and had me spit on the ground. I don’t remember any residual pain. My parents never knew about any of this. I didn’t even get my tooth back from the dentist to put under my pillow.

Where Are My Shoes?!?!?

  

 Not too long after Marv and I were married, I was asked to be in the wedding of my friend who had been my maid of honor. I was looking forward to the whole event. We lived in Paradise and Jo lived in Tulare, so it was a bit of a drive.

Jo’s mom made the bridesmaid dresses and I LOVED the pattern and colors. That was one of my favorite dresses for special occasions, since it wasn’t a typical bridesmaid dress.

We were all packed and had the car loaded and we took off. My parents were Jo’s godparents, so they made the trip as well in their own car.

We got to the motel and unloaded the bags. When it got close to the time we were to be at the rehearsal, I looked for the cute green plastic tote with ALL MY SHOES, as well as Marv’s dress pair. THE BAG WAS NOT THERE. I remembered setting the bag next to our suitcases in the living room by the door. Where it had apparently remained back at the house…

Thankfully, there was a Kinny Shoe Store in Tulare. We didn’t have a whole lot of extra money for a bunch of new shoes, but we did need something decent to wear for the wedding. I had planned on wearing the shoes I wore for my wedding, even though they weren’t the most comfortable. And of course, I had shoes for every other outfit I had packed as well…*sigh*

So, one pair of nice shoes was all I was going to be able to get and they would have to do for the entire weekend.

I got a cute pair of dressy sandals that I LOVED WITH ALL MY HEART! They became my favorites right from the get-go. They were so comfortable! I wore those shoes until they were completely worn out. I was so sad the day I had to finally throw them out.

I still miss Kinny Shoe Store. We had one in Oroville and I really liked their shoes.

And yes, the green tote of shoes was waiting for us when we got home…