When a young girl with Down Syndrome starts school, everyone hates her and calls her a monster. The girl and her parents are heartbroken, but then she does something to prove everyone wrong, and 20 years later, they all regret calling her a monster.
Whitney held back tears as the winner of the art competition was announced. She scanned the crowd and saw a sea of faces that had made her childhood a misery. Almost everyone in that room had expressed hate towards her and called her a monster. But now, 20 years later, here she was, proving them all wrong. Her eyes fixed on her parents, and she noted how proud they looked. It had taken a lot of hard work and determination to get where she was, but her parents had always supported her.
But even if she won the competition, could she really forgive everyone in that room? Could she be the bigger person? If she had to be honest with herself, she had always been the bigger person, if not the biggest of all. She’d actually been defying expectations since day one on Earth and even before being born at all.
First of all, she had come when her parents had completely lost every hope of ever having children. Sally and Richard Hughes had been trying for a baby for many years, but nothing had worked. No one could tell them why they couldn’t fall pregnant, as all the tests showed they were both healthy and were able to conceive naturally. In their early 40s, the couple began to consider adoption, as Sally knew she was probably too old to conceive now. But the couple hit a roadblock that they had never imagined. The adoption agency didn’t seem very proactive in letting them meet potential matches, stating that most of the children were white. Defeated, the couple began to face up to the prospect that they would never be parents.
But when Sally began to get some unusual symptoms, she suggested that maybe they should buy a pregnancy test. Over the years, she’d taken countless pregnancy tests, and the negative result had broken her heart every single time. She told herself not to get her hopes up, but things really did feel different this time. So she nervously took the test and waited for the result. Her heart almost exploded with joy when two distinct lines appeared on the test. She’d never seen a positive result before.
Sally and Richard wasted no time in making a doctor’s appointment to confirm that they were expecting a child. After years of disappointment, it still didn’t feel real. But to their surprise, the doctor confirmed the good news. They were going to become parents. Sadly though, their excitement was short-lived as the doctor explained that due to her age, the pregnancy was at higher risk, and there was also a high chance that the baby would be born with disabilities. But the couple had waited so long for this moment that they decided they would love and care for their child no matter what.
For the first few months, everything went well. Sally was positively glowing from the pregnancy, and the couple couldn’t wipe the smiles off their faces. But they were about to be hit with some terrible news. At the 21-week scan, a doctor informed them that a few anomalies had been picked up, and that they would need to carry out further tests. Sally and Richard tried not to worry. They’d been warned there was a high chance of complications. They just prayed their baby would be okay. But when the test came back, it became clear things wouldn’t be as smooth as they hoped.
The doctors suspected that the baby would be born with a heart defect, fluid on the brain, and severe mental and physical disabilities. Richard and Sally couldn’t deny that they were shocked by the news. They vowed to love their child no matter what, but they’d never considered that their baby might not have any quality of life. The doctor told the couple it would be best if they didn’t carry on with the pregnancy. They were shocked at how blunt he was and said they needed some time to think it over.
Back at home, Sally broke down in tears. She explained to Richard that she didn’t want their child to have the same kind of life the doctor described. But something inside her told her he was wrong. She couldn’t explain it, but she felt sure their baby was healthier than what the doctor had suspected. She didn’t feel comfortable ending the pregnancy. Richard supported his wife wholeheartedly. So much to the doctor’s surprise, the couple decided to continue with the pregnancy.
When Sally went into labor, the couple had mixed emotions. They were excited to finally meet the child they’d waited so long for but worried about whether they’d made the right decision in terms of what kind of life their baby would lead.
When Sally gave birth to a little girl, the doctor immediately whisked her away for tests, and the new parents were left with unanswered questions. But as soon as the doctor came back in the room, they knew they’d made the right choice to continue with the pregnancy. The doctor explained that all the little girl had been born with was Down syndrome and had none of the defects he’d originally predicted, aside from a very mild heart defect that was common in people with Down syndrome anyway. But what he said next truly shocked the couple.
Rather than being happy that their baby was healthier than he predicted, the doctor seemed annoyed he’d gotten it wrong. He told them that Down syndrome was nothing to celebrate because their child would probably have developmental delays and severe learning difficulties and that they should prepare themselves before seeing their daughter because she was a little monstrous.
Sally and Richard couldn’t believe what they just heard a medical professional say about their baby. Had they not been in complete and utter shock, they would have asked to speak to someone about the doctor’s behavior. When their baby was placed in Sally’s arms for the first time, they felt nothing but love for their baby, whom they decided to name Whitney.
Sure, the little girl’s facial features looked different to the average baby, but they didn’t think she looked monstrous at all. To them, she was perfect. But sadly, as the couple and Whitney would soon learn, more people held the same opinion as the doctor. The couple had prepared themselves for Whitney to have severe developmental delays and learning difficulties, but they were continually surprised when their child hit each milestone either within the average time frame or just out of it, going against everything the doctor had said.
When Whitney began to talk and explore the world around her, it became apparent that her learning difficulties were only very mild, and there was actually very little difference between her and other children her age. She would need a little extra support with some things, but there was no reason why Whitney wouldn’t be able to live a normal life. Sally and Richard were overjoyed, but when their daughter started kindergarten, they were shocked by the reaction they got on their first day.
As they walked her to school, they explained what would happen, and she seemed excited to try something new. The kindergarten teacher was well aware of Whitney’s Down syndrome but had been told that with some help, she could do everything the other children did. The couple were so proud of their little girl, and it never occurred to them that both the children and their parents could be cruel to her because of how she looked. When they stepped onto the playground, they could feel everyone staring at them. Thankfully, Whitney didn’t seem to notice. The couple hoped it was just first a curiosity as there were no other Down syndrome kids in her class.
But soon, the couple noticed a change in Whitney. Their little girl was usually bright and bubbly, and when she’d first started kindergarten, she could spend hours telling them everything she’d done. But after just a few weeks, Whitney’s personality seemed to dull. Her parents noticed that she was rarely smiling when they collected her and that she’d stopped telling them about her day. But one evening, Whitney asked a question that broke her parents’ hearts.
The little girl turned to her mom and dad and said, “Why do the other children call me a monster? Everyone is friends, but no one wants to be friends with me because I’m a monster.” Her parents tried to explain that the other children just didn’t understand why she looked a little different and told her that in time, they would get used to her. She should continue to be kind and caring as she always was.
So the other kids could see that it was okay to be her friend. But Sally would soon find out that the root of the problem was with the parents, not the children. She had been trying to make friends with some of the parents in the hopes of setting up playdates, but no one seemed interested. And one day, while she was waiting on the playground, she overheard a group of parents talking and realized to her horror that they were gossiping about Whitney.
The parents were discussing what Halloween costumes they’d gotten for their kids. Halloween was only a week away, and Sally had been looking forward to taking Whitney out trick-or-treating. But when one parent made a remark about one child not needing a costume because they already looked like a monster, Sally realized all the other parents were looking at her daughter and laughing.
She had always tried to teach her daughter to be brave and stand up to people who mocked her, but in that situation, Sally found she couldn’t speak at all. That day, she sat in her car and cried. Would her child always be hated and called a monster? Why could no one see what a kind, funny, and caring little girl she was? School life remained a difficult time for Whitney, but she did have two friends that always stuck by her no matter what. Sadly, it was the same story throughout school, though. People would immediately judge the young girl on her appearance and hate her for looking different. She’d been labeled a monster at birth, and unfortunately, the label stuck.
However, there was one thing that allowed Whitney to escape from reality: art. Her parents had first noticed Whitney seemed to have an artistic flare just before she started kindergarten, and they were pleased to see her love of art hadn’t diminished despite the terrible time she had at school. As their little girl got older, her artwork continued to improve. By high school, she was producing work that could pass for that of a professional adult. But her parents weren’t the only ones who noticed. A kind teacher, Miss Donahue, was also blown away by Whitney’s creations and called her parents in for a meeting.
Richard and Sally were surprised to get called into school. Whitney had never done anything wrong before, so they were unsure why Miss Donahue wanted a meeting. When she told them that she was going to push Whitney into applying for college to study art, they were shocked. No teacher had ever taken much interest in their daughter, but Miss Donahue seemed to genuinely want the best for Whitney. By the end of senior high, the kind teacher had successfully guided Whitney through her college applications and was overjoyed when she was offered a place on one of the best art programs in the country.
College was a completely different experience for Whitney. No one there seemed to care what she looked like. Instead, they were fascinated by her artwork and how her mind worked to come up with such creations. Whitney’s confidence soared, and soon her artwork was gaining recognition. When she made the news for her creations, people back at home were shocked. Many people in the small town had hated Whitney for looking different, but here she was, achieving more than any of them could dream of ever doing in two different lifetimes.
It had been 20 years since Whitney had first heard the word monster, and she was finally about to make everyone regret what they’d done to her. Her small hometown was looking for an artist to create a mural, and when Whitney heard, she knew she had to put her name forward. It was a chance to prove everyone who had mocked her wrong. But her parents had other thoughts. They weren’t sure that returning to the town that had hurt her so much was a good idea. But Whitney wanted to do it. She wanted to look the people who had called her a monster in the eye and show them what she’d made of herself.
Her parents couldn’t argue with that determination. So Whitney submitted her entry to the mural competition and waited to hear back. A month later, she received a phone call letting her know that she’d made it to the final of the mural competition with three other people and was invited to the presentation evening where the winner would be announced. Shortly after, she also received a phone call from a newspaper interested in covering her story. Whitney’s artwork was known up and down the country now, and they were interested in covering her return to her relatively unknown hometown.
Not only was Whitney proving a point to everyone who hated her, she was now putting her town on the map. On the evening of the presentation, all of the finalists got up on stage. Whitney tried to keep a low profile for most of the evening. Being back amongst the people who had made her childhood a misery was harder than she thought it would be. But now that she was up on stage, she tried to hold back the tears. She recognized most of the people in the room had expressed hate towards her at some point. She wasn’t sure she could go through with this.
Everyone was looking at her, and she just wanted to disappear. But then she saw the proud look on her parents’ faces. This, she instantly knew, would be okay both to win and to lose. When the winner was announced, Whitney almost didn’t register that her name had been called. It was only when she saw her parents standing up and clapping that she realized what had been said. Then she noticed the whole room had stood up to applaud her.
Whitney wasn’t sure that she could forgive those who had hurt her the most just yet, but she was sure that everyone in that room who called her a monster now regretted it a lot. Now it’s over to you. How would you have felt in Whitney’s position?
