Size Doesn't Matter

When she was 8 and way below her height, my heart broke when, walking out of the Basilica de Guadalupe in Mexico City, she said that she had prayed “so I may grow”. I knew her classmates, kids who don’t mean harm but cause it, said to her. I wanted to give her the height she wanted as if that could make her happy. I prayed that she’d overcome adversity.

Months later, she would lose her ear in a dog attack and her pets, it seemed, died faster than others.

My heart broke even more.

I walked over to the Modified Cross Country coach and inquired if she could join, we were a week late. The coach accepted her entry and she started training. Her petite figure seemed even smaller among kids of different sizes and shapes.

Slowly her training with us which had given her the ability to run over 3 miles started paying off. Eventually, after two years she moved up to Varsity and started training with the big girls.

She never again mentioned her height and refused cosmetic surgery for her scars. I don’t know when she went from the timid under-height kid to the confident teenager.

On Friday, one of her short term goals was achieved. She qualified as one of the varsity girls to run in the State’s Girls Cross Country competition.

When I see her get her running gear ready for a meet I smile remembering the little girl I feared would have a difficult time adjusting to life and its hardships.

I am glad she proved me wrong. After all, isn’t that a kid’s job?