The Beginning..

Christmas day I was born, big brown eyed girl with a head full of dark brown hair. I remember my momma telling me about how people always use to tell her she has such a beautiful baby, not cute, but beautiful.

I grew up with a mother, father, three brothers, two sisters, and a dog. I have an amazing family and without all of them I wouldn’t be as strong as I am today. As a child, my mother was always the one to protect me and look out for me. My father is the type of guy that if I got a little scrape on my leg, he’d make me get up wipe it off and keep going. He always kept me going at my hardest times. My sisters always gave me the best advice about everything.. well it seemed like it at the time anyways. They were and still are my role models till this day. My brothers always had my back when anyone would say anything or look at me wrong. Without all of their different roles each and every one of them played I would be an entire different person. Having that much support and being so young was the best thing for me. The one thing that my family always did was to be sure to take care of me but never treat me any different than any other kid.

As a few years went by my mother started noticing a change in my facial appearance and wasn’t sure about what was going on. I was about four years old at this point and we went to see my local doctor. My mom explained to him that she had been noticing a change, and wanted him to check it out.. well this doctor never wanted to really interact with me. He wouldn’t touch or feel my face or anything to check it out. He just started naming possible conditions that I could have had. We then went to a different doctor for a different opinion. All of the doctors that I have seen in my life have never seen this case. Usually, when you get Scleroderma you get it in your stomach area in which sadly leads to death. After seeing this new doctor, he sat there and really was interested about getting this all figured out. He was so dedicated and always kept calling back with new answers. Shortly after our appointment with him he had gave my mother a call back and told us that he is referring us to a doctor in San Francisco, California.

So here I am, age four a half.. and still left without an answer with what is going on.

Starting Out..

As I was growing up I never realized how strong of a person that I was until being strong was my only option. At the age of four I was diagnosed with a condition called Scleroderma. Luckily for me, I have it in my face and although you may assume I must have had a pretty rough time growing up with this, I have had my mother along my side the entire journey. With my mother being my side, it has made me a stronger and the best person I could possibly be.

            My mom did not always have an easy childhood and she is no where near perfect. The one thing that my mother does have though is a positive outlook on life. Whether things seem impossible to concur or everything seems to fall apart she always makes the best out of it. I have been put in so many positions growing up where all that I wanted to do was give up, many moments where I could have just broken down and cried, but having a mother like mine has helped me through all those obstacles I faced. My mom is such a strong person and she has taught me to be strong as well.

            She is the main reason why I had turned down plastic surgery. I realized that I do not care how others perceive the way I look, because I am who I am. If my mom had not have been there for me every moment of my life then I believe I would have a different outlook on my life and I feel as if I would want to change to please other people. Always saying “if I could trade places with you, I would in a heartbeat” my mother is an amazing lady. But after so many times of hearing that it dawned on me that I would never trade places with anyone in this world because I love the person that I am and what I am soon to become. Having this condition was pure luck, but having the wonderful mom that I have was the best thing that ever happened to me.

            So through all of the doctor appointments and moments where I wanted to just break down I am so fortunate to have someone stick by my side to pick me up when I am down. Thanks to my mother, I am a wonderful, strong, smart and independent young woman, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

So let's start from the beginning..