The Power of the Purple Card!

We are gearing up for Rett Syndrome Awareness Month which happens in OCTOBER!

The awesome organization that I've written about before on here, Girl Power 2 Cure, asked for Rett families to send in a photo with their daughters and the purple card. The purple card, as most of our close family and friends know, is kind of like a "business card" with Anna's picture on it and details about Rett Syndrome... You can use it anyway you like it, but it SO comes in handy when people start looking... Or staring... Or asking questions... It is such an amazingly positive way to spread awareness! For more details on the purple card, you can click here.

The story I included, along with our photo, happened just a few weeks ago.

Basically, we didn't really know how to "use" the purple card when we first ordered it... Maybe because Anna was still tiny and we could get away with the "premie" excuse... Or maybe because we were still accepting and "dealing" that Rett was now and forever (NOT forever, right?! There's a cure coming!) a part of our lives. 

But I had a total moment of clarity of the power of the purple card when I took Anna in for a haircut a few weeks ago. The hairstylist says, "She's 2? Wow, she's so quiet." I answered, "Yea... she's a shy one." Then she asks, "Does she crawl... or walk?" Hmm someone was fishing for information! Before this moment, I used to become upset when I was asked questions like this... But I found a huge moment of healing when I laughed, and smiled, and said with the most peace I have felt in months since our diagnosis, "Well, Anna has Rett Syndrome. It is an awful neurological disorder that messes up everything she tries to do. She can't talk, has limited use of her hands, and can't crawl or walk, but she is super smart and can hear us talk about her. Anna understands everything and is very smart." 

At that moment, Anna looked up and gave that smile, anytime this conversation starts to unfold, and her mama finally achieved clarity on how to "use" the purple card!! "And here," I said to the hairstylist, reaching into my purse. "This is Anna's purple card, and it can tell you all about her and the hundreds of thousands of other girls like her." The lady smiled, said thank you, and finished up our haircut. As I was paying and about to leave, I looked back to say goodbye, and she was holding the card so tight, reading it with tears in her eyes, and ran over to give us a hug. "I'm going to share this with my friends and family," she said. 

It was a perfect example of the perfect power of the purple card.