“I was born with no ears, no cheekbones, and a receding jaw. Food and bottles were thrown at me. It got to the point where they would trip me and pin me up against walls. I used to come home from school every day crying, but still the school did nothing. Instead, they moved me to another class. ‘Why should I be moved and not them?’ The bullies took over my life.”
‘I swallowed my own tongue and went blue. One week into school, the bullying began. ‘Why should I be moved and not them?’: Teen with Treacher Collins Syndrome urges ‘we are all unique and amazing in every way’
‘You wouldn’t know, you don’t have a real sister.’ I was in third grade, when I suddenly stopped.’: Transracial adoptee declares she is ‘brown and deeply connected to her white family’
“I was squeaking down the linoleum hallway with my friend when she informed me with a smack of her bubble gum and a toss of her blonde hair that my sister was in fact, not real. As far as I knew, my sister was real. We had real fights. We exchanged real eye-rolls behind our parents’ backs. We slipped real ‘I’m sorry’ notes under each other’s doors after calling each other names. We were real sisters.”
‘This is when my daughter is most beautiful, covered in layers of extra skin. Celebrate her, instead of giving me pity.’: Mom of daughter with Harlequin Ichthyosis wishes people would ‘stare at her beauty’ instead of ‘hiding their stares’
“I remember vividly the first time Anna opened her eyes. She stared with such intent that I couldn’t bring myself to look away. The swelling from her eye lids had finally gone, and she opened her eyes and stared directly at me. I get mesmerized by the beauty in her skin. I know she was made for something special.”
‘Aww, You’re such a freak of nature!’ I stood there, with my own obvious difference, unsure of what to say. Because I’ve been there. ‘Two-face.’ ‘Ugly.’ ‘Freak.’
“I went to the animal shelter to look at puppies. Then I saw her. She has extra claws on her back paws. I ranted. I raved. If that’s what she thought about a dog in her care, what was she thinking about the customer standing in front of her with half of a purple face?”
‘Been trying a little experiment for the last 2 weeks, putting breast milk on one side of my stomach. I can’t believe the difference!’
“I rub it into my tummy while nursing and lather it on so it’s almost dripping off. I let it air dry and just pull my shirt over after. I put it on every time I nurse.”
‘CRYSTAL!’ I heard her yell, as her eyes lit up’: 9-year-old overjoyed to meet woman with ‘same beautiful purple hue’ prominent birthmark
“Until that afternoon, Naomi and I had never met – but she knew who I was. Even though we have a 17 year age gap, we already had many common life experiences: Stranger’s uncomfortable stares. Unkind comments. Medical treatments.”
‘I lost the father of my children because he was bit by a tick’: Wife details illness of husband who had been sick twice in 26 years
“Within 12 hours after being admitted, he went from joking and talking to being in ICU on a ventilator. Finally a doctor came to me with a little hope – they had the diagnosis! He was showing small signs of improvement. Within two hours, I watched my handsome husband of 23 years pass away.”
