About Face

Today I woke up feeling brave, so I took the kids to the local zoo. After seeing many of the animals and feeding a hungry giraffe, we found the playground. The kids got right to the business of playing. At one point, Sophie was at the top of the play structure, waiting to go down the "sloopy slide," her name for enclosed corkscrew slides. An older boy, maybe around Cooper's age, was in front of her.

Suddenly, he turned and looked at her. His face contorted into an expression of shock. "Oh my gosh!" he exclaimed. "What happened to your eye?"

Sophie hears this question asked on a regular basis, though it is generally directed to me about Sophie and is often asked by well-intentioned elderly people. This was the first time a kid had used this particular tone to speak about her face, to her face.

After pausing for a moment, she looked at him and said, "It's my birthmark."

Again from the boy, hushed this time, "Oh my gosh."

During the exchange I could feel an unpleasant tightening in my chest, a dropping in my stomach, a clenching of my jaw.

Then another girl, this one closer to Peter's age, walked up behind Sophie. She addressed Sophie, "What did he ask you?"

"About my birthmark." And Sophie pointed to her face as she turned toward the girl.

In complete sincerity the older girl responded, "Oh! I love it! It's so beautiful!"

The grimace that had rested on Sophie's face was quickly replaced by a wide smile and she was bouncing when she hopped off the bottom of the slide.

I looked up at the girl and said, "Thank you, for what you said about her birthmark. Thank you."

"I meant it! It's beautiful!"

Isn't it amazing how just a few sincere, kind words can change a situation? I am thankful for that sweet girl and her effect on my sweet girl.