[Miss Petunia]

As a 30 year-old woman, I now look back on the scars on my skin and the memories flood back.

My first emergency room was from catching my middle finger on my left hand in a car door when I was 8 years old and in third grade. I recieved 4 stitches. I remember how my classmates fought over who would help me change my bandaid.

I have a little check mark scar on my right ring finger from fighting with my big brother over a pair of scissors. I unfortunately had the business end. This scar reminds me to pick your battles and think before you grab.

I had surgery to lengthen my left calf muscle when I was a sophmore in high school. It took many months for the incision to heal due to allergic reactions and infections. I now have a pretty nasty scar. But there is more to life than pretty legs. My calf muscles are slightly asymetrical. I remember one day when I was on crutches, my arm was pinched between the door and my wooden crutch because a fellow student didn't look behind him and catch the door in time. I am reminded to be considerate of others.

Both of my children were born by C-section, and that is a scar I do not regret in the least. My son was 2 weeks over due and weighed 10 lbs. 7 ounces. Because of modren medicine I was able to have a healthy baby! the day I came home from the hospital after my daughter was born, we were watching a Christian comedy DVD and I had to turn it off because it hurt to laugh. That was the worst I love to laugh and for a week or two, I couldn't without pain.

I also had 4 stitches in NYC, and 5 stitches on my thumb while pregnant with TJ. I have a scar from a gouge I got on a bed frame while chasing a toddler.

Scars and pain aren't necessarily a bad thing, they are what makes us unique and makes us, us.

Carrie