It’s amazing what power words can have.  I don’t know the lady that said it.  I wouldn’t even recognize her if I saw her on the street but I will never, ever forget that someone called my baby ugly. I can’t believe that someone would look at my child who so obviously has many, many struggles and that the words out of their mouth would be, “Oh what an ugly baby”.

I think there was a day, not too long ago that I would have been able to shake that off but I can’t do it now. I guess that means that I’m not the person I used to be which is fine, I already knew that. I spend so much time trying to concentrate on the positive with Ali, and I think for the most part I do a pretty good job of it. Obviously I spend a lot of time worrying about her health, I can’t find any positives when I’m worrying about cancer and heart failure. But when people ask how she’s doing I always list off all the good things and all her successes. It’s not really in my nature to say anything else. I don’t need to be fighting back tears in the grocery store while I tell someone how much I struggle. That lady left me crying in the grocery store parking lot with my children simply because she didn’t bother to think before she spoke. I know a lot of people would say, “Who cares? You don’t even know her so let it go.” but it’s not that easy. I can’t even explain to you why it’s so difficult for me to let those words go because I don’t know. All I know is that I have a beautiful, trusting, happy baby that may very well be judged her entire life by what she can’t do and by what she’s not and I don’t want that for her. People need to look at all that she is and all that she has to give! I don’t have any other way to explain it.  I’m glad she’s too young to understand what that lady said but what happens when she’s not anymore? How do I protect her from that? She’s been through so much and she has so many challenges and yet people still feel like it’s okay to judge her and us. We walk in shoes that most people wouldn’t want and the hardest shoes of all belong to Ali. She’s very, very different but different isn’t ugly and I hope that she can  grow up knowing how beautiful she is inside and out. It’s those features that make her so obviously different that remind me every day of what an amazing little person she is. I’m just going to tell her every day how beautiful she is and hope that she always believes it.