CELEBRATING PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES
By GeGe
Hi! My name is GeGe. I’m a purple elephant with light marks on my body. The marks are due to a condition called Vitiligo, but no one knows why I’m purple. Have you ever felt like you don’t fit in because you think you look different than other kids? Or maybe you feel that some kids might stare at you because you are different? I know how that feels!
When I was little I struggled with the way I looked. My elephant relatives and friends are grey and don’t have patches on their skin, so I was embarrassed because I did. I couldn’t even look at myself on the pond because I didn’t like my own reflection. I would bury my head in the grass or hide myself behind trees to avoid being seen.
Maybe you feel a little like that sometimes too? It is easy to feel that we all need to look, or do things the same way, but, did you know that each of us was created unique and special? None of us is exactly the same in every way. We have different skin, eyes and hair color, different heights, different languages, etc. We also all like different things, like my friend Chico likes berries and marshmallows and I prefer grass and watermelons. Or like my friend Tutty likes swings and I like playing in the pond. My friend Kipi runs very fast, and my friend BeBe can jump really high. I can’t jump, or run that fast, but I can hold a lot of water in my trunk! Each of us is beautifully perfect!
When I met my friends, they all loved the marks on my skin, and they said one of them looks like a heart too. I never noticed how really nice they are. They told me they love my purple color and that my markings make me so special. And I know they are telling me the truth because they love me. One day they took me to the pond and asked me to look at myself more closely. I saw how happy they were when I discovered how pretty my light marks are. I have learned to love myself, and others and to appreciate our differences as a reason to celebrate!
You are beautifully special, just the way you are!
Love,
GeGe
NOTE: None of us at Wittle Buddies is an expert in these fields, and our blogs are simply written from the bottom of our hearts. We want to be sensitive to each person who reads us, so if in any way we are failing in doing that, please feel free to contact us so you can help us understand your concerns, thoughts, comments or personal story.
