Sad to think that my young uncle and my very young mother had both lost teeth. Mom had a missing front tooth. Even when she went on her first date with my father she was missing a tooth … she had told me that when she laughed she had to hold her hand over her mouth because of the missing tooth. Of course, I never heard this story until she was in her late 80’s or early 90’s, but Aunt Lucy has confirmed the story. I am not sure why she lost the tooth, but apparently there was no money for a bridge to replace it … until sometime around the beginning of the school year my grandfather came up with the money to get the dental work she needed.