Lizzie Velasquez 2

Lizzie Velasquez: Learn To Love Yourself First

In Self Esteem by Interconnected Lives

Lizzie Velasquez has an inspirational journey that we can all learn from as she learnt to love herself and keep marching forward, not letting the torment and torture of life weigh her down. She learns that she is different from the other kids and accepts herself for who she is.

In Austin, Texas, 1989 a young couple rejoiced the birth of their very first bundle of joy. It was Monday, the 13th of March and Rita was in labor. Both Rita and Guadalupe eagerly anticipated having their first glimpse of the newborn.

The doctors arrived carrying a little baby very small, light and fragile, weighing only 2 pounds and 11 ounces. In an instant, things drastically changed for the couple.

‘Do not expect this child to walk, talk, crawl or even think. You will have to feed her and nurse forever… ‘These words spoken by the doctors pierced the hearts of young Rita and Guadalupe.

They learned of their newborn’s condition – a rare disease that didn’t even have a name. With no adipose tissue, zero percent body fat, inability to create muscle, store energy or gain weight, their first child was one of the three people who suffered from a syndrome they had never known or heard of.

Although devastated by what they heard from the doctors the two were not ready to accept it. Instead they decided to shower their little cherub with all the love, care and affection she needed.

They sent her to school and raised her just like they would raise a normal child.

With other kids staring at her in the hallways, picking on her, bullying and name-calling, this little girl’s schooling career was a long and agonizing emotional journey.

She would go home every day and lock herself up in her room secretly crying all alone thinking of all the cruelties she was subjected to. She wondered – why other kids shied away from her and gazed at her as if she was some kind of monster.