By Monique Dabdoub

Memory is a fickle thing.

Some days are only half-remembered.

Others not at all.

But each day I had with you is a gift.

Complete or incomplete

I love these memories best of all.

I remember that I used to suck my thumb.

I did it everywhere,

And for quite a while.

You used to laugh and find it cute.

I remember your laughter like music

That danced throughout the house.

Until one day, it stopped.

You worried that my thumb would

Stick to the roof of my mouth.

So, on that day,

You marched into a battle

My mother had been trying to win

For the better part of a year,

And with a trick worthy of Odysseus,

You scared that thumb

Out of my mouth for good.

My dentist champions you

As the hero of my pearly smile,

An enduring legacy you left for me

Every time I crack a grin.

A flash of teeth in the mirror,

And each time I think

Of my knight in shining armor

Who fought for me

To shine, to laugh, to smile.

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I used to point that smile at you,

Bright as a lighthouse beam,

Eager to lead your mind to shore

Where memories of us stood.

But my shine faltered,

Weak and weary,

As your eyes landed on me

Free of recollection.

Then one day, my smile shattered.

It bit at solid stone,

And screamed your name into the abyss.

My captain raised his arms from the depths

To give me one final confused glance,

One last hazy smile,

Then no more,

No more.

Oh, how I miss those

Cheshire grins:

Half-faded,

And shrouded by time,

A final vision

Of my captain,

My hero,

My knight in shining armor.

So, now I smile for you,

As I grin and beret in the mirror,

And I think of a time when you sat by my side,

And taught me what it meant

To love and be loved.