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When we’re older, things like scars, moles, crooked teeth, and birthmarks don’t bother us as much as they did when we were younger. As you age, you start to care less and less about what people think of you, and learn to embrace all the unique things that make you, you! But when you’re younger, the last thing you want is attention for being different. Especially when kids can be so cruel.
Grant is a young boy with a port wine stain birthmark on his face. The reddish colored mark covers the side of his face and eye, but has never really bothered him. According to his mother, Madeline Schmidt, it bothered everyone else.
“Grant didn't have a problem with his birthmark, but everyone else seemed to. The large port wine birthmark spilling across his left eye and cheek was normal to him. But it was noticeable to others, and with each passing year, Grant grew more and more frustrated with the repetitious and invasive questions from strangers.”
Eventually after so many questions and confused looks from strangers, Grant said - for the first time ever- that he wished he didn’t have his birthmark.
Madeleine asked Grant why he didn’t want to have his birthmark anymore, and his answer broke her heart: “It's fine. I'm just so tired of people asking about it or trying to touch my face.” he said.
Madeleine describes Grant as an extremely tough kid, and that it took “hundreds to bring him down”. Thankfully, though, it took one very sweet boy to bring him right back up.
He encountered a “kind reddish-haired child” at school one day, who began to ask the typical questions about Grant’s birthmark. Grant was ready to perform his usual script about explaining his birthmark, when the young boy said something that took him by surprise: “Well, your birthmark is really cool.”
Madeleine said that she hadn’t seen Grant that happy in ages. That simple statement from a new friend completely restored Grant’s confidence, and even made him start to love his birthmark!
Grant’s mother decided to use his detective skills to find out who the kind classmate was, and as it turns out, it was one boy who was described as “typically very shy”. His parents said that “it was completely out of character for him, but they were proud to hear he'd been so kind."
Grant’s confidence was so high, that he even decided to do his science fair project on birthmarks!
After a visit to Grant’s dermatologist, Madeleine asked him if he would have his birthmark removed if he could. His response? “Are you kidding? No way! I LOVE my birthmark."
This story just goes to show what a huge difference kind words can make. We’re glad that a newfound friend gave Grant the confidence he needed to embrace his unique birthmark!
You can read the entire story of Grant's friendship from Love What Matters below:
