Dear Cerebral Palsy,

Thank you. Thank you for always pushing me to be better than what life hands me. When I was born, I didn't expect to have you as a companion, the very essence of who I am. Because of you, I've had a difficult life, with many surgeries and hardships; but because of those surgeries, because of you, I gained my strength.

I have learned that I can't do everything on my own, and that it isn't wrong to ask for help when I need it. I have also learned that you don't define me. Yes, you don't define me. You are just a shell, a shell that encases the real me. Here is a poem that I wrote about having you as a disabilty:

I didn't ask for this and yet

I endure it, I overcome it

I didn't want this and yet

It makes me who I am.

By allowing me to stretch

Inside my twisted body,

Carried, pushed and held

I yearn, I reach, I try.

Soft words behind me

Cut, alienate, hurt

I am only alone when

I look backward.

Often I have thoughts

of shame, thoughts that slice

my heart and mind in two.

Thoughts of "Why me?" in times of despair.

Thoughts of "Are you there? Can you here me?"

directed towards heaven.

In response to those questions I find

that I am never alone

He is always with me, wherever I may go.

It is his footprints I find by mine

when I am living days of strife.

His spirit resides in me

and I in His heart,

His loving whispers of

"I am here, you are enough."

Forever soothe my aching heart.

So, you can see that I love myself even when you bring me down. You aren't the definition of me, for I am truly undefined.