Florida Dental Insurance: A Gift worth Giving
Many parents in Florida wonder what the best gift to give their children is, yet the never even consider that the answer might be dental insurance.
Curtis Thornton’s life was in turmoil and his father had just accepted a new construction contract job in Florida. This was the fifth move in the past six years and it was getting to be a routine, a much despised routine! First they had moved from his childhood home in upstate New York to the rainy yet still cold, Seattle, Washington. Then when Curtis was just starting third grade they moved again, this time back across the country to Portland, Maine, which of course, was even colder. Fourth grade rolled around and the family was off again, setting out for a remote rural town in Pennsylvania, where the sight of snow was almost as common as the site of Amish buggies being pulled by horses. Mid way through fifth grade, despite Curtis really settling into the Pennsylvania school, the family was off again, this time to Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Curtis didn’t much like the big city atmosphere of Minneapolis, but far worse then the constant hustle and bustle of honking cars and load people was the school. Oh, the dreaded school. Curtis was teased mercilessly for his thick New York accent and even more mercilessly for his overbite. Many days Curtis would come home from school in tears and beg his mother and father to pay for him to get braces, but every time he heard the same answer, “We’re sorry honey but we don’t have dental insurance.”
When little Curtis first heard that his father had accepted a new job, he new that meant yet another new city and state to get used which he was not looking forward to, and this time, there would not be any of the comforting and familiar snow, just rays and rays and rays of sun! However his father’s new job and the big move also meant that little Curtis Thornton would have to enroll in a new school, make new friends and deal with a new round of teasing. If Curtis was not looking forward to adapting from the Northern states snow to the hot Florida sun, he was downright dreading adapting to a new school and all the hassles that come with it.
Little Curtis Thornton’s worst nightmares came through on his first day in his new Florida school. The school bully, a beefy boy with a huge nose and crooked teeth, named Ronald Jacobs but who was called “Little J” for some strange reason, must have seen fresh meat in little Curtis Thornton. Before the first class was over, Little J had already knocked Curtis’ books out of his hand, blew two spit wads into his hair, taped a “kick me” sign on his back and called him a name he had heard back in Minneapolis: Horse Mouth. The rest of the day seemed to be a continuous repeat of that first horrible hour.
Little Curtis Thornton stumbled into his new house with his head hung low and a sincere desire to just retreat to his bedroom to play video games and eat candy bars until he fell asleep. However, all of that depression flew out the window upon hearing his father’s declaration when he came from his first day on the job. “Curtis, I have a surprise for you. I know it isn’t your birthday or anything but your mother and I want to give you a present, you know, for being such a trooper yet again. We want to give you braces! Actually, you, me and your mother are all going to be getting braces!” Curtis was shocked. “Dad, every time I ever asked for braces you said no, because you couldn’t afford them and didn’t have dental insurance or whatever it’s called”. Curtis’ dad flashed his charming smile and said, “That was before we got Florida dental insurance buddy”!
Little Curtis’ father spent the next hour over a take away pizza dinner, telling Curtis and his mother how he had impressed his new boss so much on his first day on the job, that his boss decided to not only employ him for this one supermarket job, but for as long as he wished to work for the company. What looked like a two year contract had now turned out to be much more. It had turned out to be a lifetime contract, with a guaranteed salary, a company vehicle, the peace of mind the comes from being able to call a place “home”, and of course, new braces for little Curtis!
It’s been three and a half years since Curtis and his family relocated to sunny Florida and today Curtis can be found walking the halls of his school with his head held high and a smile on his face, a face free of any overbite, all thanks to Florida dental insurance!
