Baby, I was born this way.

“So my birthmark on my back is fairly large and at first I didn't like it, or just wasn't really against it I suppose. I was never really teased about it, but whenever I was swimming or had my shirt off it definitely received some form of attention. But now I really like it, it makes me more unique and interesting, and it sounds cheesy but I feel like it makes me a little bit more different than everyone else.” 

“...If only I was born without them.” - Chocolate Chip

“I wish I could just take them off, but I can’t.” 

It’s hard to believe that such a beautiful lady with marks that look like chocolate chips on a cookie would hate such marks on her face and body. I ask her, “What makes you so uncomfortable with them that you wish to change them?” Too which she replies...”I look different.”

To be different is sweet. 

“ I am a happy mother of 4.” - Badges of A Mother

“Varicose veins runs in the family, but mine is the worst of them. It worsened when I had children. They swell so bad that it’s painful at times to even walk. But to look and my children and know that my body was capable of bringing such beings being into existence makes me believe its not so bad after all. It’s just the way I am...signs of being a mother.”

“A reminder each day to be grateful for my life.” - Pink Ribbon

In order to keep her life they had to go. Breast cancer is no respecter of persons. I asked her how she was able to cope with the fact that they are gone and be ok with her body image. She said to me, “I have life. I have my family, my husband, and a life yet ahead of me to live. I love, I share, I give....I am not my breasts. They are gone, but I’m still here. For that I am grateful. I choose not to have reconstructive surgery to replace the evidence of what is lost. I’m ok. I still love myself....even without them.” 

“No pain no gain...but never again.” - This Girl Is On Fire

“I wanted my hair strait, so I asked a friend to straighten it for me. Back then we didn’t have flat irons, so she used a metal comb that you have to put on the stove top to heat it up. I sat there talking and trying to get my mind off of the fear of getting burned when a slip of her grasp made the hot comb fall on my shoulder and burn the teeth mark prints into my skin. It was pretty bad. No pain, no gain. But trust me...never again.”