06/20/2025
I used to feel like I didn’t belong in this world. Being deaf in a hearing family and having hearing friends made me feel like I was living in two different worlds at the same time. Everyone around me spoke with ease while I struggled just to keep up and understand.
On top of that, my skin looked different because of vitiligo. I would catch people staring and sometimes it felt like I was carrying something on me that I didn’t ask for. As a kid it made me wonder why I had to be different.
Then there was my stomach condition Hirschsprung’s disease. I couldn’t eat like everyone else. I would sit at the table with friends and family and just watch them eat. I used to pretend I wasn’t hungry but the truth was I wanted to join them so badly. I wanted to feel normal.
Because of all this I started to love the darkness. The dark became my hiding place. I would shower in the dark, eat in the dark, and even watch TV in the dark. Somehow the darkness felt safer than the real world. It was a place where I didn’t have to explain myself to anyone.
But something in me changed. Little by little I stopped hiding. I realized that the very things I thought made me weak were the things that made me powerful. My deafness taught me how to really see people. My vitiligo taught me that beauty isn’t just one color or shape. My stomach condition taught me patience, strength, and how to fight for my health.
Now I tell my story because I know I’m not the only one who has felt alone or different. I want others to know that no matter what you’re going through…
You are not alone in this.
Together we can make it through anything.
