I am a 9-year-old girl, born in Louisiana, but was adopted when I was a little baby. I live in Tennessee with my adoptive family, and I am one of 50 kids. (I'm the one who uses the pink crutches. The one with the short, wavy hair. [My hair USED to be long, but I got it all cut off. I had a lot of problems trying to comb my hair; my stupid joints didn't want to work right, and I got tired of fighting with the hairbrush each and every morning!])
My name is Ronee'. People are starting to get annoyed with me because each and every time I write my story (or A story), I end up mentioning my disability. They say things like, "But that's NOT what makes you what you are!" or "People don't want to hear about your problems!" True, but being disabled IS a fact of my life, and it IS rather hard NOT to see that I use crutches (and BRIGHT PINK ones, at that!) or wear braces on my legs; or see my knobby knuckles and swollen knee!! Or the fact that I am often in a lot of pain! Or that I have to take an inhaler when my darned old asthma acts up. (Believe you me, wheezing is NO PICNIC!!)
But I WILL tell you something. I TRY my best NOT to let my problems get the best of me. It is VERY HARD at times (especially if I end up in the hospital with one of my "flares"), but for the most part I am like most little girls my age: I love the colors pink and purple (I also love the color red), I love horse stories, I love music (except in my case it's country music! Loretta Lynn ROCKS!!), I love gabbing on the phone with my friends, I love the Powerpuff Girls, Scooby Doo, and Walt Disney cartoons, Bugs Bunny, and reading my books. (I have TONS.) I also love to draw and write stories or poems on my computer, and I love to go to amusement parks or go shopping.
I also love going to church and singing in the church choir. I love singing for the Lord, and I love SINGING. Period. (I want to be a country singer when I get bigger and be a Grand Ole Opry star.)
Just because I am disabled doesn't mean I can't do the things I want to do. I may have to do some things in a different way, but at least I can still do them. I am NOT helpless, and I can do MOST things without ANY help!! All I ask is for you to treat me like anyone else: LIKE A NORMAL KID!!!!
