A lot of people wonder what is "wrong" with a lot of my brothers and sisters. I see them as being just kids, but too many times, people wonder why a lot of my brothers and sisters act the way they do or look the way they do, and they also wonder why they are on crutches or walkers, or are using wheelchairs; or why one little boy is so scarred up in the face, or why my littlest sister is..well, so "little".
To quelch some of the curiosity seekers, I'll tell you; maybe then you'll quit bugging me about it. I am sick and tired of being asked what is "wrong" with my brothers and sisters.
Some of the kids are in wheelchairs because they have things like cerebral palsy (Jodie, Todd, and Lightning as three examples) or because they have muscular dystrophy (Johnny) or spina bifida (Debby). Or the kids who use crutches to walk (Ronee', Andre', Melizza, Jo-El, Anh Kim, etc.) use crutches because they had cancer (Anh Kim; he is an amputee), or they use crutches because they had polio (Andre'; he had it as a very tiny baby back in Vietnam, where he was born), a stroke (Melizza; she is paralyzed on one side, and she uses crutches because her balance isn't that great), burns (Jo-El; he uses crutches because he was so badly burned, and he can't walk that well as it is due to having no toes on his feet), or arthritis (Ronee'; she has juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and is often in severe pain).
Some of the kids are also blind (Sun-Hee and Diana) or have severe vision problems (Johnny; he has very poor vision), and one tiny boy is deaf and mute (he had meningitis as a baby, and it caused him to become deaf and mute). And several (Jodie, Todd, and Roberto) are BOTH mentally and physically handicapped. Jodie and Todd have severe spastic cerebral palsy and are severely brain damaged (they were both born this way), and they will always need someone to care for them and their needs; they are more like little babies than kids of 10, 11, or 12 years of age; and Roberto was born with Down syndrome and cerebral palsy (but he isn't as mentally handicapped as are Todd or Jodie; at least HE is able to learn [albeit very slowly, in comparison to most kids his age], and at least HE can SOMEWHAT take care of himself!). Unlike Jodie or Todd, Roberto CAN walk, but he uses leg braces and crutches to get around.
And my one little sister (Enriquesa) is littler than most kids because she happens to be a "little person", meaning that she will always BE little, even when she becomes an adult. Doctors don't think she'll be any taller than 3'5" when she becomes an adult. She is a "dwarf", and she was born with achondroplasia, which is the most common form of dwarfism. Achondroplasic dwarfs have normal size trunks but short arms and legs; but Enriquesa happened to be born WITHOUT arms OR legs. So she is REALLY little. She looks just like a baby without her "arms" or "legs" on, but with them on she looks almost like a normal little girl. She uses a walker because her balance isn't that great.
There. I hope you're satisfied. Now maybe you'll stop bugging me about this. And maybe you'll understand why my brothers and sisters are the way they are or WHY they need things like wheelchairs, braces, prosthetic limbs, or crutches.
The familiar lament of dual-career parents raising children is, "I just can't do it all." The Libra Solution provides an alternative - a more satisfying and sustainable work and life approach - to the overwrought modern day norm.
Let this coming of age story of a boy named Bean take you back to a simple time. Set in a small southern town in the 1960's, encircled by a river and gleaming white cotton fields.
