My pediatric dentist was a tall man, so of course, he was called “Tiny”. As my second teeth came in, it was clear, even before braces were discussed, there was not enough room in my small mouth for those large teeth, so he spoke with my mother about extracting two, possibly four (top and bottom) of the incisors. They wouldn’t be missed and would leave room for more of those large second teeth.

An appointment for the extraction was made. “Tiny” Konikow would do it himself in his office, though I would be under sedation. My always-nervous mother probably made me nervous about the process as well. I think I was 9 years old. Going into the procedure, it wasn’t clear if two or four teeth would be removed.

I was in the chair, it was reclined way back. He and his nurse were very reassuring. I remember seeing the mask coming toward me. I think they used ether, as I remember the smell of gas. Tiny asked me to count backwards from 100. I got to 99 and was out.

I had the most peculiar dream. I lay on my back with my feet in the air, up against a wall (presaging my love of Pilates, perhaps?). Suddenly, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, the three good fairies from the Disney version of “Sleeping Beauty”, were buzzing over my head, singing to me. Crazy, right? Then the dream was over and the dentist called me back to reality. The operation was over, gauze was packed in my bloody tooth sockets. He reassured me that all had gone well. He would get my mother.

I remember quickly pulling out the gauze to see if there was blood on both sides. I wanted to know if the top and bottom teeth had been pulled (it never occurred to me that the blood would soak through anyway). The dentist came back with my worried mother, assured her that all had gone well, that FOUR teeth had been pulled (my preference; if we were going to do this, let’s get rid of all of them) and that I would heal quickly. I couldn’t eat much for a day or day, needed to rinse with a special solution, but it was really easy.

And I got Barbie’s ballerina outfit as a special treat for being such a good patient! I really wanted that outfit.

Original Barbie ballerina outfit with booklet description.

In a few years, I would still need to be in braces, head gear, and all the other accoutrement. But this was a start.

I was gifted an unsafe, flimsy, and frankly ugly aluminum highchair purchased with green stamps.
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I helped Mom lick S&H Green stamps and put them in many, many books, but I have no memory of what she traded them in for. As I scanned the Internet, some thermoses looked familiar, so perhaps she traded them for those and the matching cooler, which would be used at Memorial Day picnics at a local park with family friends. But that is just a guess.

My husband was a much-traveled management consultant for most of his working life, so had millions of airline miles, which we converted to tickets, and years ago, through Hilton Grand Vacations, we bought a fractional ownership of a unit at the West 57th Club in New York City. If we choose not to use it, we convert the usage points to Hilton Points and have stayed at various hotels in London throughout the years for free. That was very useful, since David has lived there for eight years, and now of course, we have a granddaughter there, so visit multiple times a year.

But the source of a few wonderful gifts at home during my teen years from my dad came from “points”. I have no idea what was the source of these “points”, how he acquired or accumulated them but I do know that the rewards were great.

I took Home Ec in 7th and 8th grade, learning basic cooking and sewing skills. Dad was so impressed that, using those magical “points”, he got me my own Singer Sewing machine when I was in 8th grade; one that looked something like this.

At school, our teacher threaded the machine and I made a really nice, lined, burgundy wool skirt that I wore for years. I wasn’t as handy at home, as I never really learned all the functionality of the machine. I did, however, make outfits for my Barbie dolls representing the North and South when we studied the Civil War in 8th grade. That was a fun, interesting project that I presented to the whole class (I based my patterns on descriptions in “Gone With the Wind”).

Barbie dressed in my creations – navy blue for North, what used to be green for South (it has faded in the intervening 56 years).

The best, most useful gift was a three-piece set of Hartmann luggage that was my High School graduation gift. In the Featured photo, from 1973, you see me sitting on two of the three pieces. They consisted of a large and small “pullman” suitcase and a large hanging bag. They were all made of leather and lasted for years. They had zipper pockets inside, along with individual lined zipper bags, which I still have.

plastic-lined zipper bags came with each of the pullman suitcases – still useful, if somewhat ragged

I asked for Sapphire Blue, but Dad could only get Peacock Blue, so I settled (not a huge sacrifice). That was one of the downsides of the program. There seemed to be limited availability with some items.

Hartmann is a great, well-made brand and I was thrilled with the luggage, though as the years passed and I became a more frequent traveler, I learned of the delights of a soft-sided suitcase, and eventually, luggage with wheels attached. But that Hartmann luggage served me well for years and years. Dad’s points were well-spent. I only wish I knew how he earned them and what the source was. He took that mystery to his grave.

But for a long time, being an oblivious sort of person, I, um, sort of forgot about it.
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