I know I am awesome. Vitiligo changed the color of my skin but it has not changed the person that I am. I have not and will not allow Vitiligo to stop me from doing anything; we all need to stand tall and walk proudly.
From the website you can see how Vitiligo has affected each of us differently. We have all learned first hand that everyone is not nice and some people are just plain mean. We have to be strong and look in the mirror and see the beauty that we all have within. God chose us to be different and unique; this is how things were meant to be and we don’t always know why this is. I have had Vitiligo for most of my life; I was about two when I was diagnosed. While everyone tells me I am lucky that Vitiligo will not kill me, I still wonder if all the sunburns will affect my health in the future. We all have parents that want to protect us and sometimes it gets really hard to tell my mom that I am o.k. with my Vitiligo and she needs to ignore the ignorant people who choose to stare, glare and make rude comments. It is definitely not my problem; it is theirs.
There are so many good things that Vitiligo has brought to my life. I have made new friends that understand what it is to live with Vitiligo and I have come to realize that I have another family, my Vitiligo family. They all mean so much to me and I hope that I can be part of the next AVRF convention in Florida to share more special times with my extended family. The head of our extended family and someone who will forever mean the world to us is Stella; she is our foundation, our rock.
Stella took me under her wing and she never let go. She shows all the Vitiligo children just how special they are and that they can do anything. She spends all her time trying to raise money to find a cure for Vitiligo and make her children’s wishes come true. It is all the people of AVRF and all the researchers and doctors who work towards finding a cure and to whom we are all so thankful.
I cannot change what I have but I can be the best me possible!!
Thanks,
Gabby
