Two Front Teeth

 The first car was a station wagon and  I remember that it was white.  That’s all I remember about the car. And I don’t remember what happened when we were parked in downtown Chino at the 1957 Christmas Parade.  Thank goodness. The seats were folded down to make a flat surface for the four older kids to be able to move around while we awaited the parade. Tara was only three months old so she was with Mom in the front seat. I was 15 months old. There were five of us at the time and what I was told was that I tripped over one of my siblings in the back of the station wagon and landed face first into the tail gate. 

My upper jaw was broken and I was bleeding. I’m glad because I don’t remember. Mom said that they were pinned in the parking spot by other cars for nearly two hours. So during that time Mom held me with my upper teeth hanging from my smashed mouth. When we finally got freed from the gridlock and went to the hospital where I had my two front teeth removed and my mouth wired back together. I barely remember going to get the wires out.  For the next five years eating things like apples was a struggle. 

At Christmas time everyone would sing for me “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth”. Finally in first grade they came in and have worked well for me ever since.

Rick