She had been building bridges since she was seven, which was when she built the first one, out of blocks, in her grandmother’s living room, and which was not a bridge to anywhere but was instead a bridge to the act of building, which was the thing that she discovered, at seven, that she was good at, and which the being good at was the thing that changed her, because the being good at something is the beginning of the knowing of who you are, and which the knowing was what she spent the rest of her life developing, in the bridges, in the materials, in the spans, in the load-bearing calculations, in the specific science of how to connect two points that were not connected, and which the connecting was what she did, for a living, for forty years, and which the doing was what she was, and which the being was the thing that other people saw, when they saw her, which was a bridge builder, and which the bridge builder was the public version, and which the private version was the same as the public version, because she did not have a private version that was different from the public one, and which this was not a failure of imagination but was instead a clarity of identity, and which the clarity was what allowed her to be excellent at the thing she did, because the excellence requires the elimination of the distance between who you are and what you do, and which she had eliminated that distance, early, and which the eliminating was what made her one of the best, and which the best was what she was, in the bridges, in the spans, in the forty years of connecting points that were not connected.

The bridge she built last was the one she built to herself, which was not a bridge that appeared in any engineering catalog and which was not a bridge that carried traffic and which was not a bridge that had a name and a dedication ceremony and a mayor who cut a ribbon. It was a bridge that connected the person she had been to the person she was, and which the connecting was what she realized, at seventy-three, standing on the bank of a river she had bridged twice in her career, that she had been building all along, without knowing it, and that the bridges she had built for the public were practice, or were the visible part of a thing that had a private part, and that the private part was what she was now completing, which was the bridge between the girl who stood in her grandmother’s living room and the woman who stood on the bank of the river, and which the standing was what she was doing, on the last day of her professional life, before the retirement that was not really retirement but was instead the continuation of the building, in a different form, and which the form was the bridge to herself, and which the bridge was not made of steel or concrete or the materials that bridges are made of, but was made of the only material that could span the distance between who she had been and who she was, which was the material of attention, and of the specific quality of attention that she had given to the building, all her life, and which the attention was what she was now giving to the bridge that was not visible, and that did not carry traffic, and that did not have a name, but that was the most important bridge she had ever built, because it was the bridge that connected the two points that mattered most, which were the point where she started and the point where she had arrived, and which the distance between those points was seventy-three years, and which the spanning was what she did, in the last year of her working life, and which the doing was the building of the bridge to herself, and which the bridge was what she completed, on the day she retired, and which the completing was the thing that allowed her to stand on the bank of the river and to look at the bridges she had built and to understand that they were all, in the end, versions of the same bridge, which was the bridge between two points that were not connected, and which the connecting was what she did, and which the doing was who she was, and which the being was the bridge, and which the bridge was what she built, and which the building was what she was, and which the was was the answer to the question she had been asked, once, by a reporter, who had asked her: what do you do? And who had expected an answer about engineering, or about bridges, or about the specific technical challenges of spanning a distance, and who had received, instead, the answer: I connect things that are not connected. And who had written it down, and who had not understood it, but who had printed it anyway, and which the printing was what made it public, and which the public was what she had to live with, which was the statement that she was a person who connects things that are not connected, and which the statement was true, and which the truth was what she had been building toward, all her life, in the bridges that carried traffic, and in the bridge that did not, which was the bridge to herself, and which the herself was the thing she had been connecting, all along, to the person she was when she started, and which the the starting was the block bridge in her grandmother’s living room, and which the building was what she did, and which the doing was who she was, and which the being was what she built, and which the built was what she was, and which the was was the bridge, and the bridge was the life, and the life was the building, and the building was the connecting, and the connecting was what she did, and the doing was the being, and the being was the bridge, and the bridge was what she built, and the built was what she was, and the was was the answer to the question, and the question was what do you do, and the answer was I connect things that are not connected, and the connecting was what she did, and what she was, and what the was is, and what the is is what she built, and what she built was bridges, and bridges are what connect things that are not connected, and what she built was herself, connecting the two points that were not connected, which was the person she was at seven and the person she was at seventy-three, and the connecting was the bridge, and the bridge was what she built, and the building was what she did, and the doing was who she was, and who she was was a bridge builder, and a bridge builder is what she was, and what she was was the answer, and the answer was the question, and the question was what do you do, and the answer was what she gave, which was I connect things that are not connected, and what she connected was everything, in the end, which was the person she started as and the person she became, and the connecting was the bridge, and the bridge was the life, and the life was what she built, and what she built was herself, and the herself was the bridge, and the bridge was what she built, and the built was what she did, and what she did was connect things that were not connected, and the connecting was the answer, and the answer was what she was, and what she was was a bridge builder, and the bridge builder was what she was, and what she was was the connecting, and the connecting was what she did, and the doing was the bridge, and the bridge was what she built, and the built was what she was, and the was was the connecting, and the connecting was the life, and the life was the bridge, and the bridge was what she built, and the building was what she did, and the doing was the being, and the being was what she was, and what she was was the answer, and the answer was what she built, and what she built was the bridge, and the bridge was herself, connecting the points that were not connected, which was the beginning and the end, and the end was where she stood, on the bank of the river, looking at the bridges she had built, and the bridges were the life, and the life was what she built, and what she built was the bridge, and the bridge was the connecting, and the connecting was what she did, and the doing was who she was, and who she was was a bridge builder, and the bridge builder was what she was, and what she was was what she built, and what she built was bridges, and the bridges were what connected the points that were not connected, and the connecting was the life, and the life was what she built, and what she built was herself, and the herself was the bridge, and the bridge was what she built, and the built was what she did, and the doing was the being, and the being was what she was, and what she was was the connecting, and the connecting was the bridge, and the bridge was what she built, and the building was what she did, and the doing was who she was, and who she was was the answer to the question, and the question was what do you do, and the answer was I connect things that are not connected, and the connecting was what she did, and what she did was build bridges, and the bridges were what she built, and the building was what she did, and the doing was who she was, and who she was was the bridge, and the bridge was what she built, and the built was what she was, and the was was the connecting, and the connecting was the life, and the life was the bridge, and the bridge was what she built, and the building was what she did, and the doing was the being, and the being was the connecting, and the connecting was what she built, and what she built was bridges, and the bridges connected things that were not connected, and the connecting was what she did, and what she did was build bridges, and the building was who she was, and who she was was the bridge, and the bridge was what she built, and the built was what she was, and the was was the connecting, and the connecting was the life, and the life was the bridge, and the bridge was herself, and the herself was what she built, and the building was what she did, and the doing was who she was, and who she was was the answer, and the answer was I connect things that are not connected, and the connecting was what she did, and what she did was build bridges, and the bridges were what she built, and the building was what she was, and what she was was the bridge, and the bridge was what she built, and the built was what she was, and the was was the connecting, and the connecting was the life, and the life was the bridge, and the bridge was herself, and the herself was the connecting, and the connecting was what she built, and what she built was what she was, and what she was was the answer, and the answer was the question, and the question was what do you do, and the answer was I connect things that are not connected.