Monday, August 22, 2016

The Perils of Uncle Bill

   Sunday is our day to visit with Uncle Bill. We have gotten into a routine. UB loves to sleep and so I go to his room, knock loudly on the door for 5 minutes (he keeps losing his hearing aids) and finally have to get an aide to let me in. (UB is the only resident that locks his door when he is in there.) Once I get in, I roust him out of bed. He is usually in a trance as I get him up, get his shoes on, find his glasses and get him ready to go to the dining room.
But yesterday was different. UB was already down in the dining room. He was even down to his last 2 cookies when we got there. (The 2 cookies took him 45 minutes to eat but still...) As he chewed resolutely away I noticed that his top dentures, the ones he lost a couple weeks ago, appeared to be back. Not only did they catch MY eye, they caught the eye of a wife sitting at the table with her husband. Unfortunately we have been finding her husbands personal items in UB's room, a wallet with 42 dollars in it, and a Bible. UB said they just "appeared" in the room. We returned them to his wife and she was thrilled. However, she was a little concerned about his dentures.

Wife: Are those my husband's dentures? (She and I watched UB as he flipped them around expertly in his mouth several times and removed them to lick off the cookie crumbs.)

Me: I don't think so. His were missing for a couple of weeks and now he has them back.

Wife: My husband's are missing too.

She looked intently at the dentures.                                                      


Wife: They look just like his.

Me: How could they fit if they are his? They are fitted to each mouth.

We both watch as UB flips the dentures out yet again. Did they fit or not? He hates to use Polygrip so they are constantly coming out.

So I called the dentist who ordered the dentures for him. They no longer have a record of them. Nor is there any identifying mark on the dentures. Basically, "if they fit, they are his." Not helpful in this case. I decided to see what UB thought about it.

Me: UB, where did you get those dentures?

UB: (He blinked.) Um....in my room.

So there I had it. We are on the lookout for stray dentures.