Can't Wash Away the Cafe Au Lait

The other night during bathtime, Rachel looks down at her belly and asked me, "Why do I got these brown marks all over me?" I smiled and added shampoo to her hair.

"Those are called cafe au lait marks, honey, it's part of Neurofibromatosis." I lifted my shirt and showed her mine. She just laughed and responded, "We're the same, that's cool!"

Rachel knows she is different, but she doesn't look at this as a bad thing. She lives each day to its very fullest and doesn't dwell on the hard times she has lived through, or the ones that she may face.

From the moment she was born, from the moment I knew she had NF, I knew it was MY responsibilty to help her realize that she was special. To not let NF define her or stop her.

Our conversation continued as Rachel got squeeky clean. I wrapped a towel around her and kissed her neck. She tells me that her birth marks make her cool and looked down to make sure they didn't get washed off.

"Will I have these forever Mama?" I hugged her tight and told her yes. She just looked at me, smiled said "Good, then I can grow up to be just like you!"

I just love moments like this.