Well, if you're like me, the first thing you would think about is if you've really been as nice to her as you should have been because very soon you will be lying helpless in a dental chair and she will be standing over you with sharp and dangerous implements.
But this daughter-in-law is Ofira, my son Sam's wife and besides being very pretty and very smart, she is also very kind and besides, she needs patients. Ofi is a student at the Hebrew University- Hadassah Dental School and this year she is starting to treat patients. This time she has to do a very thorough examination and a cleaning. This may require three or four visits and it is not the kind of thing most people would volunteer for. Actually, it is not the type of thing anyone volunteers for and therefore, I was given the opportunity.
How could I say no? Ofi picked me up early in the morning and we drove through heavy fog and heavy traffic. When we finally entered the dental clinic, there were rows of chairs and rows of students working on their fathers, husbands, brothers, wives, mothers, and sisters.
And then there was Ofi. She put on her white uniform coat and picked up her tools and I suddenly felt so proud and so happy to be a part of this miracle in the making. She really is going to be a dentist and she is well on her way. Ofi was very gentle and thorough. Of course, the worse my mouth is, the better the exercise is for her, so each deficiency rated a "wow" or a "cool". I figure that if I really want to be a good mother-in-law, I should show up next week with the plague.
Afterwards we shared some warm milk with chocolate. It's not the way most mothers-in-law bond with their daughter-in-law, but it was warm and close and special.
Copyright 1997 by Rona Michelson