Tootache and Love

My mom couldn’t put herself to sleep, her tooth aches.

In the living room, she’s catankerous; she thrashes about like a cat gone crazy. My Papa and I can’t do anything but watch her in sheer agony.

She’s totally helpless, you see.  My mom already took a pain reliever, and an antibiotic but the pain, she hisses, didn’t subside. And so every one minute or so, she yelps in pain, swears to kill herself, and runs to the sink to mouthwash.

I’ve had my experiences with toothache when I still was a stubborn kid, so I feel for my mom’s suffering completely.

Having a toothache is hellish. The pain sings like your gums were drilled with a sharp pointed object in a slow agonizing fashion; it electrocutes your whole body, consuming all your energy and sanity. True, having a bad case of tootache makes everyone suicidal.

Helpless that I am, I just can’t bring myself to leave her to sleep. I know just by being there would give her strength far stronger than physical. Presence does count. The knowledge that we are one with her would give her additional strength to endure the pain.

Yes, if there’s one thing that is powerful and enduring,  stronger and stubborn than toothache, or every imaginable pain, it’s love.