Finding Strength In Your Story
My doctor cried when she first saw me after my delivery.
Back in the late 80s, ultrasounds weren’t able to prepare parents for birth defects like they can now.
My parents didn’t cry when they held me and saw I had a cleft lip and palate.
From that moment, my parents fought to get me the best chances to look and feel normal.
My mom breastfed me despite my obvious inability to latch. She was determined to do whatever it took to get my weight up for my first of 3 reparative surgeries before I was 9 months old.
I did speech therapy because, despite my reconstructed palate, I struggled to pronounce Rs & words with “th.” I speak with a slight lisp.
My hearing in my left ear is equal to an adult over the age of 60 due to all the scar tissue on my eardrum from the ear infections I endured as a child.
I have a scar on my left hip to remind me of the failed bone graft that was suppose to fill in a gap above my teeth.
I remember the pain from the rhinoplasty I got when I was 17 to help me breathe better out of my nose.
I forgot about all that I endured up until I entered college. I forgot about the strength my parents instilled in me from the moment I was born.
When I entered this world, I met tears. I look back and I see triumph thanks to my parents.
I wouldn’t be the wife, friend and mother I am today if I didn’t have the fight of my parents within me. I hope I don’t forget again.
Friends, you’re stronger than you realize.
♥️Take a moment to share what you’ve overcome.
