I had my dental surgery on Friday at 11am.  I expected to be 100% by today,  but I am not. I am still in pain.  I have had many dental surgeries before and normally the recovery is a breeze.  I take 1 pain pill the first day and that’s it.  By lunch yesterday I had already taken all the pills they gave me (6-600mg ibuprofen).

I am at work now and decided to try not to take any pain meds. I am accepting this discomfort, knowing that it will pass. I am keeping the conversations to a minimum and eating only soft foods.  It helps.  I will also leaving shortly and go to bed as soon as I get home.

As far as the procedure, the removal of the implant, bone graft and the cleaning of other 2 implants; apparently it all went well. It will take some time to know for sure if we were able to save the other 2 implants. Fingers crossed.

Even though I should be a pro by now, for some reason I was really nervous and scared about this surgery.  I am blaming it on aging.  I am becoming a chicken as I age. 

To take my mind off of it, I decided to accept a dinner invitation for the night before.  I met N. on OKCupid.   He is the CFO of a Marketing company.  He is 57 years old and lives in Darien, CT, 30 minutes from me.

We went to a French restaurant called Encore Bistro Francais.  He had red wine and I had a St. Germain cocktail.  He had the cassoulet and I had a burger.  I know I probably should have ordered something else, but the burger seemed the perfect comfort food to prepare me for the next day’s surgery.  We shared profiteroles for dessert.  Everything was delicious!

The conversation flowed.  He has lived in different countries and had a lot to share. He was fun to talk to. We will probably go on a second date. Because of my surgery we didn’t schedule anything.

“I love these little people; and it is not a slight thing when they, who are so fresh from God, love us.” ― Charles Dickens

But, the highlight of the evening was this tiny little guy, probably a year and half old.  He was seated with his back to me, but he kept turning around to look and smile at me.  At a certain point his father joked that he would probably have to get into a fight with my date over his flirting with me.

This child was the most well behaved child I have ever seen.  He made no noise or mess. Even when trying to get my attention he would just make faces and smile.  I would ignore him to pay attention to my date, but he never gave up, every time I looked his way, he was staring and smiling. 

“The soul is healed by being with children.” – Fyodor Dostoevsky

When he was done eating his father turned his chair around so that he could look straight at me, and didn’t have to keep turning.  I learned his name was Edward when a lady, from a table next to him, asked.  I didn’t want to be rude to my date, plus there is Covid, so I kept my distance but would have loved to hug him.

That night, my date never had a chance.  Edward stole my heart. 

“I’ve never really understood the desire people have to quantify a baby. “He’s X big and Y long,” As if the baby is a fish you’re not sure you’re going to keep. Or some prize potato you’re hoping will win a prize at the county fair.” ― Patrick Rothfuss