Do you believe that life is beautiful no matter what? I’m a positive person, so I’ve always kept my head up despite being sick. Family is important, and at one point in our lives we want to start our own. I’ve never had the chance to bear a child, but you’ll see that it’s as if I did.

Back in 1969, when I was diagnosed with the disease, the research on Crohn’s disease was not what it is today. Because of all the medication I took and the surgeries I underwent, I had to go through a period of mourning… I was forced to go through hard times.

The disease took not only my colon, but also the happiness that having children brings you. Never being able to feel him kick my belly, feel life grow in me, see my eyes in his, his smile through mine, and see his hair color… Not being able to reassure him when he wakes up, comfort him, and give him everything I have… I may seem nostalgic, but know that while life throws hardships your way, it also throws amazing opportunities at you.

Oh yes, life is beautiful. It gave me a lover who shares his two most precious gifts with me: his children. One is a beautiful eight-year-old boy, and the other, his eldest, is an 11-year-old girl. When I first met them, they were three and six years old. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of watching them grow, while respecting their link with their biological mother. Let’s just say that I love being the stepmother who spoils them. And who knows, maybe one day they’ll have children of their own I can spoil just as much!

Life does things well. I am a social worker and a special-education teacher, so I get to work with children. I work in a school located in a disadvantaged area. They get a lot of hugs, believe me; and I get a lot too.

Never lose hope. You’ll see that when you choose to focus on the window opening instead of the door closing, life shows you how beautiful it is.  

Geneviève B.