without teeth

It's Picture Day at my grandson's school. Just hearing that this morning made me remember my grade three year with a grin. Not a smile with teeth showing though.
I have no school pictures for grade one and two. We lived in Blue River then, that little town locked in time. There the two room school house still reigned; no library, no gym, no picture day.
A move to Kamloops catapulted us into the fast moving stream of popular culture and that included school pictures.
We lived within walking distance of an elementary school. Well, running distance some mornings. I'm sure you've noticed that you will be up and ready with the birds on mornings when it doesn't matter a whit, but on a morning weighted with importance like Picture Day, life will cast marbles under your feet.
I remember sprinting for the door as my mother did a fly by visual check, only to be found wanting.
"You haven't brushed your teeth," she wailed.
Too late, too late.
Sometime later, when the photographer instructed me to smile, my mother's words acted as a sort of adhesive. No matter how I was exhorted to smile, my lips remained firmly sealed.
A grin of sorts was preserved for posterity. I was as happy as I could look without including my teeth.
Looking at the title of this post has made me laugh.
My grandson is missing several front teeth so they will be absent from his school picture too.
May his smile be big.