From Dentists To Grinches

I lay stretched back in the dental chair on a rainy Monday morning as the friendly dentist poked around my mouth with her sharp little instruments. Glancing sideways at the hygienist, she remarked, "Well, she really doesn't get any build-up on her teeth at all, does she?" A simple comment regarding the health of my incisors, but I felt as pleased as if she had just introduced my mouth as the winning smile on the cover of a magazine. Ah, the little things you feel proud of when you are truly and officially an adult.

Back home after washing my hands, I paused to observe my freshly-cleaned ivories in the bathroom mirror. I tilted my head to the right, to the left, then bared my fangs for a snarling grin as I admired their squeaky surfaces---then with a sudden realization thought:

"Am I getting old or what?!"

Ughh. I shuddered with the reminder that surely only an older person would feel so excited about a perfect dental check-up.

I hated to end that fresh-from-the-dentist feeling with lunch, but my empty stomach was urging me. Just a few minutes later, I settled onto the couch with my lunch plate and flipped on the television. "Awww!" I breathed eagerly, just as my roommate walked through carrying the trash.

"What is it?" she asked in alarm.

"'How The Grinch Stole Christmas' comes on tonight!" I exuded happily.

"Oh my god," she muttered under her breath and continued out the front door.

So maybe I am not that old, after all.

(I didn't tell her about my plaque-free chompers.)

Yes, reaching adulthood. Feeling satisfaction over mundane, trivial things that were once easily overlooked. Yet, hopefully, still striving to cherish some of life's innocent simplicities. The balancing act of grasping for maturity and wisdom, while trying to maintain that mysterious sense of childlike wonder.

My hope is to continue both.