Sunday morning one of the anchors for my braces snapped off again. On Monday I scheduled the requisite appointment with my orthodontist for later in the week, and then pretty much forgot about it. Then yesterday afternoon my upper front teeth started to feel kind of strange. I looked in the mirror later in the day and realized that the gap I’ve had between my front upper teeth–the gap that has informed hundreds of decisions not to smile for photographs, or laugh in large crowds, or, when I was younger, make myself visible in general–had completely disappeared.

My teeth are finally straightening out… And, honestly, I feel kind of weird about it.