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You’re running at a hundred miles
Flashing that million-dollar smile
And everybody turns to stone when they see that you’re alone…
-opening lyrics to “Sweet Lady” by What Made Milwaukee Famous

I think I first wanted braces when Jennifer Stogdill got them in the third grade. Jennifer was the epitome of coolness at Brown Elementary School. Her clothes always matched, her shoe laces always stayed tied, and my third grade teacher once cut a math lesson short so that we could watch a VHS tape of the Sears commercial that Jennifer starred in.

When she got glasses, I borrowed my Grandma’s extra pair, and I wore them to school. When I heard she was going to be a cheerleader for Halloween, I had my Grandma glue large white triangles to a purple cotton skirt that I had so that I could be a cheerleader for Halloween, too. So when she got braces, I made fake braces out of colored paper clips and rubber bands.

By my sophomore year of high school, I had long ago stopped emulating Jennifer, but I was immersed in modeling and pageants, so I knew that my crooked teeth put me at a slight disadvantage. My town didn’t have an orthodontist, so when I got my driver’s license and was able to drive myself to the orthodontist in the next town over, my grandparents finally gave in to my begging on my 17th birthday.

Fast forward to my sophomore year of college. My braces had been off for not quite six months when I lost my retainers on the subway in Washington DC. Call me naive, but I honestly thought that since they were in a case with my name and address on them, someone would mail them back to me.

I waited. And waited. And waited some more. Not wanting to tell my family that I had made such a dumb mistake, I let life go by. Eventually, my teeth migrated back to where they were. After getting my wisdom teeth removed, my teeth got even more rebellious. On top of that, my jaw had started clicking loudly when I chewed and a few times a day, my jaw would lock. I needed braces again, this time more than ever.

I was once told that I could not be Pocahontas at Disney World because of my crooked teeth. A casting director once told me that I would book more commercials if I got some teeth work done. When I don’t get cast in projects, I always try to see who got the part over me to see if her teeth are perfect. I’ll admit that since becoming a working actor/ model, it’s become a slight obsession.

Imagine my joy when for my most recent birthday Honeybun gave me the down payment for Invisalign (the clear braces). My first aligner came today, and I am incredibly excited! Coupled with a jaw surgery (in one year) and then six months of regular/ bracket braces, I think I’ll have commercial-worthy teeth. At the very least, I can be a Disney World Pocahontas if on the off chance I have move to Orlando again. Right?