Why Do Good Things Happen To Good People?

I don't know about karma, and in my case, the jury is still out on God, but sometimes good things happen.

Due to a combination of factors, on top of all my other health issues, I'm losing my teeth. I went in to see my dentist yesterday to have a painful tooth extracted. I'm down to four molars I can chew with (two top and two bottom), and this was one of the top ones. So now I am down to one top and one bottom tooth that make enough contact to masticate food.

I asked the dentist where we - I - go from here since the remaining top one is already loose. He pulled up a planning chart, with cost breakdown. What he wants to do is remove eleven more teeth that have to go, and use the secure teeth as anchors for partial dentures. His office assistant showed me that after what my insurance would cover (approximately $2,000), I would be left with a balance of over $4,300 due at time of service!

I just stared at the screen hoping for some kind of answer, but all I saw was a reflection. When my grandchildren look at their grandfather, is this what they're going to see - a scarred, wizened, toothless cripple?

Yesterday was a bitterly cold day, and I caught a chill going outside. Once I had transferred into the dental chair, I asked the nurse for a blanket, expecting one of those white, starched, institutional jobs, but she covered me with a fleece throw from the dentist's private office.

When the dentist came in, I was still shivering a bit, and I explained that the TM (Transverse Myelitis) made it hard for me to regulate my core body temperature. Of course, he knows I'm in a wheelchair, and he has seen me transfer numerous times.

As I lay there numbly, knowing the money was just not there and was never going to be, he sat down and said, "Here's what we'll do. We'll let insurance pay whatever they're going to pay. If you want to cover my lab costs of about $800, I'll waive the balance of the fee."

You can imagine my reaction. The tears came. The tears are coming now.

Mr. DeMille, I will soon be ready for my closeup.