I Wonder.....

Do people stop and think before they say things and when they are talking ugly about children especially…with disabilities or deformities ….that they are talking about someone’s child. They are talking about a child that the parents love dearly in spite of the deformities. They are talking about a child that could have been any of us.

I remember when Juliana Wetmore was born. Her birth hit the news…the child born with no face. She was the worst case of Treacher Collins Syndrome ever. She had no face at all. And yet her parents took this baby from day one and loved her and told her how beautiful she was and they never stopped to even think maybe she should not have been born…..not once. And yet people are so cruel as to suggest that this child whose only “fault” lies in the fact she was born with no face should have been terminated before birth.

The parents and surgeons have done everything possible to help make her face more normal. She has had surgery after surgery and this child is one resilient child. She is just like every other child inside. She wears a ballerina suit and dances, she goes to ball games, she goes to school and nothing seems to stop her. I so admire her parents. They have tried to be the best parents possible for her and to let her know just how loved she is.

So, why is it then that some people must make such ugly comments?  Why is it people can not change their mental image and see that this is a child just like your child and mine. The only difference is…she was born with no face.  She is growing up and they are still doing surgery on her and she is a happy child…thanks to some unbelievable parents. I can not imagine what this child has endured to have her face worked on and yet look at her…happy and a child.  Isn’t it amazing how much more accepting children are than adults. They have put balloons in to stretch her skin so that they could make her jaws. She has worn these horrible looking metal braces on her face and jaw and yet…she goes on being a child who plays with toys and friends and who laughs and just lives her life as a child.

So, I wonder…do the people who point and stare…who make ugly comments…or who say she should have been aborted and other comments…do they even stop to think that they are talking about someone’s child…a child who is loved dearly?   Would they want someone to talk about their child like that. And I have to wonder…how can they not see the beauty in this child with all she has endured and she is still smiling and happy? Her beauty just radiates from the inside out.

We are a world obsessed with outer beauty and yet most people fail to see the inner beauty. I look at this child and I see her strength, her love, her child like joy and her determination. I see such a beautiful child.  Many children would have suffered drastically from the way others react but her parents and family have made sure to counter that with all the love they can give.

The world focuses on looking young, on having Botox and plastic surgery, on trying to retain your youth and yet how much work do most people do on making their inner being beautiful?  How much money do they spend on learning how to be a person of character, virtue, integrity, honesty, love, compassion, etc?

The following is a video about Juliana. It is graphic for it shows her from birth on up. They are doing wonders to create a face for her and she has come a long way. And she has a way to go. But whether her face is operated on anymore or not….to me…this child is beautiful and has taught me much about acceptance and about what is important in life.

video by izzybella50

and one more:

video by tipookhan

When I look at all this and see the ugly comments, it reminds me of not too long ago of the hateful person who asked me since I was so sick had I ever considered euthanasia.  My reply to her was “no, not once and evidentally my life was a lot happier than hers in spite of my health for that thought has never entered my  mind and it has hers.”  And I say…happiness is within us. It is not in what we own, who we are with, what we look like…it is in our hearts and Juliana Wetmore is the best example of that I have ever seen.