Mission Dentist II

Dentist, Part II.
Success!


We planned it carefully. Got Okaasan all geed up to have a bath and come down town to meet me in her favorite coffee shop at lunchtime, so that I could take her to the clinic nearby.
I finished morning class just before 12 and got to the coffee shop - bursting at the seams with young office workers on lunchbreaks. And Okaasan came from home and met me as planned. But didn't eat or drink anything.


It was a beautiful day : the first real spring day in Sapporo. Crowds were out in Odori Park having picnics among the flower beds. We ambled gently through the park naming every single flower (I notice that like small children Okaasan seemingly has a need to check and name things around her) and got up to the clinic with time to spare.
I gave Okaasan over to the loving, sweet care of the dental nurses and Tsukuda-sensei. They are SO sweet to her and she laps up that kind of attention.
50 minutes later she emerged looking a bit tired and flushed - and hungry, since she hadn't eaten at all today (following the mantra that "you shouldn't eat before the dentist").


The dentist says he is going to try and make a false tooth for the front gap, but as the surrounding teeth and bone is not so strong, he isn't sure how it'll go. Anyway - I am so happy she is GOING to a dentist and having attention. We made the next appointment. He said her blood pressure is normal but her heart rate is quite high...nerves I guess.


But. Done! Success!


I took her straight across the road to Grand Hotel. Starbucks Coffee? No, just sandwiches. Hotel Coffee Shop? hmmm, no...just Western food. 4th floor Japanese Restaurant? Oh YES! The cheapest set lunch was sold out - so Okaasan and I sat in the quiet splendor of the Grand Hotel Japanese restaurant and she ate a Y2,300 lunch set and I ate chocolate cake.
We chatted and looked at the garden. The waiting staff bowed and scraped. It was all so gentle and nice. Yujiro doesn't do this kind of restaurant - he's a bar food and noodles kind of guy.
But sometimes...it is just REALLY nice to have lunch in a good place. I am sure Okaasan loved it, she hasn't been to this kind of place for ages. The attention from the staff is excellent and Okaasan could pick her way through all the beautifully presented, traditional food and explain it all to me.


Afterwards we walked back down to the park and the shopping area and she decided to stay downtown. I made my work excuses and retreated back here to my classroom.


Big success. Dentist and Okaasan/Oyomesan Bonding Time.
Life doesn't have to be all dirty laundry surprises and missed mealtimes.


:-)