A Missing Piece: How I Lost (and Found) an Old Friend
The Strange Way Life Leaves Spaces—and How They Get Filled Again
My friend is always good to me. I’ve known him all my life. He was the kind of friend I could 100% depend on. Sometimes I unintentionally ignored him, but he was there when I needed him. (I hope I was the same kind of friend to him.) Everyone needs a friend like that, in my opinion!
We were the same age. While we were young, probably 7 or 8 years old, he got badly injured while playing video games, of all things! He was still around afterwards, but he wasn’t the same. I tried to encourage him while he recovered. I felt his pain. Poor guy!
We went through so many things together. We grew up, got our driver’s license, graduated high school, graduated college, had our first kiss. We were happy for each other and shared in these many milestones. He was the type of friend who adamantly cheered me on, no matter what life threw my way, good or bad. I tried to be the same, picking him back up when he was down.
We were literally inseparable until one day, he went away for a while… 26 months, to be exact. It was the longest we’d ever been apart. To have such a close friend leave was odd, depressing, discouraging. During that time, I started to doubt if he would ever return.
It took me at least a year to get used to his absence. You never really get used to such an impactful friend being gone from your life. We didn’t stay in touch while he was away. There were no hard feelings. If I ever saw him again, I just knew we would pick back up where we left off because we had such a strong foundation. But if I’m being truly honest, there were times I was convinced he was never coming back.
He was gone longer than expected, which didn’t help. But finally, the day came! His homecoming was bittersweet. At first, I couldn’t believe he was back. It took me at least a week to get used to his presence again. We almost picked up right where we left off with the occasional catch-up on context… because 26 months is a long time. A lot of life was lived during his absence.
This endearing friend was my lower front tooth. 🦷
When I was young, a Nintendo controller was thrown at me, and my face caught it in the form of a “V” chipped into my bottom front teeth. My “friend,” the tooth that had to be extracted decades later, took the brunt of the blow. After half a dozen surgeries, much embarrassment, lots of explaining, and so much social angst later, I am finally whole again.
On June 3, 2024, I was officially crowned! 👑 That day my dental implant tooth was finally installed. My face was restored! The term “million dollar smile” draws a whole new meaning now. At first, it felt odd having all my teeth. I tentatively bit into burgers and fruit for about a week. Living 26 months with a missing tooth gave me a unique perspective for which I will always be grateful.
The hardest challenge was meeting new people in a social setting involving food. I wore an Invisalign to temporarily fill the gap between my teeth. The catch was, I couldn’t wear it while I ate. (Oh, the logistical hoops I jumped through before breakfast and lunch meetings!) There were so many pre-meal exercises to perform to determine whether or not upcoming meetings would include appetizers or food.
Inside those 26 months were some silver linings. The puns were aplenty. I was entrapped in the gap and embraced the space. I could drink through a straw with my teeth gritted together. All I wanted for Christmas was my one front tooth. And since when does a late-thirty-something mama get an opportunity to take a matching toothless selfie with her 5-year-old daughter? Been there, done that!
I learned to embrace more than just the space. I also embraced silence - a rare occurrence for me - because speaking involved opening my mouth, which also included showing my lack of a tooth. I never ceased to be self-conscious about it, but I learned to live with - or should I say, without - it.
Take nothing in life for granted.