Our daughter, Grace Marie, is nine years old; yet she has been through more than most people go through  in an entire lifetime.

She was born with Apert syndrome, which resulted in facial anomalies; she had her first surgery a few days after birth.  She has since had over ten more and may face some more before she becomes an adult; yet she has handled each hospital stay with the heart of a lion.  She is a true champion.

Nothing seems to keep Grace down for long.  She has always had a determined spirit; she gets that from my husband (me, I'm not that strong).

Other than her facial deformities, Grace is like any other preteen.  She loves dancing to fast music, talking to her friends on the phone, playing on the computer, watching tv (her favorite shows are "The Voice" and "America's Got Talent", which comes back on June 4th for a new season; she is already looking forward to it), going to church where she sings in the children's choir every Sunday and Wednesday, playing with her friends after school or on the weekends, and caring for her kitten, "Milo", among other things.

When Grace grows up, she wants to be a teacher to kids who have special needs.  Or maybe a singer or actress.  She has a lot of dreams.

Sometimes, though, people can be cruel.  They see our daughter, and some think it is cool to make fun of her or stare at her as if she were a bug on display; it makes her (and us) very uncomfortable.  There have been those days where Grace has come home from school in tears, but we usually make her feel better by holding her tight and offering comfort.

We didn't know our daughter was going to have facial deformities until she was in my womb and the ultrasound picked up the differences; when we heard the news, we both cried long and hard, but we then decided that we would try to do everything possible to help our child and to be there for her, no matter what she faced in life after she came into the world.  We've been her biggest advocates ever since.  Even in light of her facial deformities, our Grace Marie is just like any other child.  She is our pride and joy; we cannot imagine our world without her!