I had a small box of odds and ends that came with me to the US. I don't have anything from that box any more, some of the things were too distinctively from somewhere else while others had value. When grandma realized that Mom's grills were real gold they disappeared quickly, but Dad only gave them to me to get them into the US.
When Mom went to spring Dad it took a lot of obedience on her part and a lot of courage, and when they were running she very quickly came down off the adrenaline and began to almost question what she was doing. Dad wanted to let her know what their relationship was right away for many reasons, not just because he knew he would depend on her a lot but also because he was proud of her. So the first thing they did was go get her a set of upper and lower gold teeth.
One of the reasons Becky wanted some of my teeth pulled and braces put on was because she knew about those grills, but it never works to wear someone else's even when they are very similar. She figured I might get them back some day, but when I do they will be remelted and made to my own shape.
Dad said I had to do some things for him so I could have them and that it would be important to me to know that it was the same gold my Mom had worn. I didn't really understand that at the time, but now I think its pretty cool.
I wondered for a while what people who live a long time do to keep teeth as my lowers are already wearing down, but now I remember being told these things a while ago. It was a nice side effect that gold caps help us keep our teeth longer, the real reason we wear them is to let people to the east, west and south know that though we are similar in a lot of things to them we are not the same. This is important because people make plans based on what they think about people and when they mistake us for people like themselves they always seem to try to make it our fault, so we do a few things to help prevent that from happening and then deal with the rest.
