“Mommy, you shouldn’t wear shorts.”
I looked at my child, so sweet and lovely with her skinny little legs peppered with bruises and said, “Why the hell not?”
I didn’t exactly put it that way, but I did ask why she thought I shouldn’t be wearing shorts.
“You look silly,” she said.
“Silly? How do I look silly?” I asked.
“You just do.”
I pressed her. “What about me wearing shorts is silly?”
She pointed to the four-inch scar running from just above my left kneecap to just below.
Oh that. “Honey, I’m not ashamed of my scar,” I said.
And I’m not. I do remember how I worried about that scar and what my knee would look like after the doctor cut into it. I was going to take a picture of the knee the morning of my surgery just to remember what it looked like but wound up getting so ill that morning that the last thing I wanted to do was pose for a photo.
It turns out I can remember what it looked like by looking down at the right knee. They were remarkably similar once upon a time.
Then there was the other day when Autumn and I were in the car playing the game “Who is…”
“Who is the tallest?” asked Autumn.
“Daddy,” I replied then asked, “Who is the shortest?”
“I am!” she replied. But I corrected her and said technically Molly is shorter than she is.
“Well then I’m the mediumest,” she said.
We pondered these facts for a few moments.
“So Daddy’s the biggest and I am the littlest…who’s the WIDEST?”
I did not hesitate.
“ME!” I raised my hand and we both laughed.
I’m not ashamed of my scar or that I am the WIDEST in the family. These are the things that make me who I am and I want my child to know that I’m very much okay with being flawed.
Heather – I love every part of this… especially about how proud you are to share who you are. I’m so happy I can call you my friend. 🙂
Julie-thank you so much! One of the reasons I can’t quit this blog is because it has introduced me to great people like you. Even if I just post once in awhile, it is worth it to keep going 🙂
I love this story. Very sweet and touching. My husband had a transplant in January and got a t-shirt from RockScarLove. Scars a a badge of honor for him.
You’re blog is beautiful. I found a link in the personal blog group at MBC. I also write a blog about my life and family.
http://www.julesmpg.blogspot.com
Hi! Love this post. Also just wanted to say hi since it’s been FOREVER!
Jules-Thanks so much for visiting! I’m sorry it took so long for me to reply. I don’t update here very often and your comment got caught in my spam folder. Scars are a badge of honor and I’ve never been embarrassed about mine. It means I survived.
doahleigh-Thanks! It HAS been forever!