Words

I have never spoken one single word. 

I am almost eleven years old.

I'm surrounded by thousands of words. Maybe millions.

Cathedral. Mayonnaise. Pomegranate.

Mississippi. Neapolitan. Hippopotamus.

Silky. Terrifying. Iridescent.

Tickle. Sneeze. Wish. Worry.

Words have always swirled around me like snowflakes - each one delicate and different, each one melting untouched in my hands.

Melody Brooks has Spastic Quadriplegia, a severe type of Cerebral Palsy. She can't walk; she can't talk; she can't feed herself; she can barely move. But from Melody's perspective, in which the story is told, she is brilliant, poetic, and has a photographic memory. She is ... trapped in her own body. Imagine how frustrating that would be. Imagine life from that perspective.

Melody is brave and grateful and authentic. Just because her body is broken doesn't mean her mind is too. Her everyday challenges are things we often take for granted. Just imagine...

One line in the book:

There's so much my mother doesn't know.

I read it several times... so much my mother doesn't know. It makes you wonder... do you really ever know, or can you possibly ever really understand anyone else's experience in life? All you can do is imagine.

Update: I found this awesome quote:
"Quiet people have the loudest minds." 

- Stephen Hawking