Fine

Tonight we were out at our fire pit when my first grader informs me that a girl in his class was burned by fire. I asked where it burned her. He said "all over her body!" He has a pretty vivid imagination so I did some fact checking. when I said, "are you sure?" he said he was!  He said he even asked her if she was burnt by fire and she said yes! I asked if you can tell...if there are scars from the burn and he said there are! He then proceeded to described what her skin looked like.  When I realized he was not making it up I said, "oh that breaks my heart!" to which he responded a little mockingly, "why? she's fine!" he was kind of laughing  at me for feeling any sympathy for her at all.

I was thinking about the all the horrible things she'd face in life. Not looking like everybody else. The mean kids at school who would make fun of her scarred skin.  I was aching for the pain she felt from the burn, and the pain her family felt watching her endure that pain. All these adult thoughts and feelings came flooding through my mind. then in an instance my sweet 6 year old set me straight with a simple, "she's fine!"

Von doesn't see any imperfections in her....he just sees his friend. His class mate that has a cool story. She laughs, and plays with her friends, she goes to school, she is an ordinary kid...."she's fine!"

so.... here's the question of the day!  I started thinking about my first impression of others and wondered....."How do  we perceive people?" When does that innocence end? When do we start, not only noticing other peoples differences, but judging them for them!. When do we become afraid to sit next to somebody in pain and ask "what happened?" instead of trying to avoid eye contact.  When did we start worrying more about the opinion of strangers and our exterior than what's inside. And why do the sounding off of an ignorant few hold more power over us then the positive voices and  validation from those who love us and know what we have to offer this world!

Next time we see somebody that's different from us I hope we remember this! I hope we  see what we did as kids. Other people that our just like us with cool stories and a unique twist on life!!
He's right, she is fine! She is a happy healthy 6 year old enjoying life! She apparently lived through something horrible and is still smiling. She has already had to learn to rise above adversity, how to make the best of a situation. She probably has an appreciation for her life at 6 that most of us will never have. She knows the gift she was given just by being here. Thanks Von for the reminder!