When a broken bridge is a signal

You are recoverable.

A four-tooth bridge in the upper right of my mouth broke the very same week the world shut down for COVID. Everything closed—schools, shops, the rhythms of daily life—and I, like so many others, stayed inside, afraid to go out, afraid to breathe near strangers, afraid of what might happen next.

I just lived with the wide gap on the side of my smile. I sm…