“Did you notice that, for the first time, I was standing in front of you without feeling ashamed? For the first time, I wasn’t trying to hide my stomach, my arms, or my legs.”
My mother-in-lawslowly
sat down in a chair.
I continued.
“I know my appearance is unusual. I know people think all kinds of things when they look at me. But do you know what I dreamed about when I was little?”
I showed her my notebook.
She slowly turned the pages.
When she reached a drawing of a little girl standing in front of a mirror, her hands began to tremble.
Beneath the drawing were the words:
“I want to look at myself someday without crying.”
My mother-in-law stared at that sentencefor a long time.
Then she suddenly whispered:
“Emily, I was that kind of girl too.”
