Marks crisscrossing my body, branding me forever.  Scars caused by past surgeries due to being burned in a grease fire when I was a child.  I have had more surgeries than one can possibly count on their fingers.

I had my last surgery one year ago; don't plan on having any more.  Compared to where I was, I think I look pretty darn good!  I was burned over 40 percent of my body.  I was in the kitchen when the pot on the stove caught on fire, and grease splattered everywhere.  I just happened to be in the way when it hit.  All I remember was instant, searing pain, and screams (I think most of those screams were from me).

I really don't remember my hospital days.  What I do remember are colored with pain.  Some of the worst pain I'd ever felt in my life!  It was not a way to spend your childhood, and because of this, I grew into a shy adolescent who was afraid to make friends because I would get teased. I can remember the kids calling me "Monster-Girl" or worse names, names that cut to the soul.  Because of this, I don't trust people unless I get to know them, and I still find it hard to make friends.

What bugs me even more is when people suggest that I get plastic surgery, "to make the scars less obvious".  They don't know all of the surgeries I have already had.  I have had enough pain in my life; I certainly don't need any more!! I am sick of hospitals, of doctors and nurses, of IV's and bandages, of EKGs and other monitoring equipment, of not knowing what the future would hold!  I don't plan on having any more surgeries (or hospital stays) if I can help it!!

I have since learned to accept my scars.  While they don't define me as a person, they are a part of me, like it or not.  And people had better get used to them because I am not changing a thing.  I happen to like myself, and if people can't accept me for who I am instead of what I am, then screw them: I don't need them in my life!!

I may never be the next Miss America or a leading lady in the movies because of my scars, but that's okay.  If anything, my scars have made me a stronger person, and I am better off now than I ever was!  I am a person with lots of potential, and nothing, not even my scars, is going to hold me back from trying to reach my dreams!

*To be continued.*