Growing Up

For most teenagers braces are as natural a right of passage as blemishes and awkwardness. I say for most because smile alignment is not a priority to the poor or the middle class families that are struggling. It’s the difference between “need” and “want”. When our boys were only toddlers and they would want something, the educator in me devised a saying. “We need food, water, shelter, and love.” All else falls in the want category. In later years, I added education to the “need” column because in my experience that has been the gateway to understanding and finding common...