Member-only story
Train Tracks and Dreams: My Journey with Braces
A story from the series: Echoes, reflections of life
There’s a period around age 9 or 10 when braces seem like the coolest thing ever. The older kids have them — the pretty girls, the cool guys, the YouTube stars, and the kids old enough to leave school at lunchtime!
So, naturally, braces become something to yearn for. Or at least they did for me and now, for my 9-year-old daughter, who is asking daily if I’ve booked her orthodontist appointment so she can get her “cool braces”. Because nothing screams ‘I’m awesome and I belong’ like turning your mouth into a mini train station, right?
I remember wanting them SO badly. A few of my friends had retainer braces, and I desperately wanted that plastic plate at the roof of my mouth. Oh, the dream of drooling like a faucet and talking like I had a sock stuffed in my mouth! I longed for that thin wire wrapping itself around my teeth, making me slur and splutter so everyone would know I HAD BRACES — because, obviously, braces equaled becoming a cool kid AND future perfect pearly whites guaranteed. (Extra whiteness included, right?!)
I dreamt of it, looked at others with their magnificent braces, and longed to be like them…
