Brave Kids - Meet Victoria

This is Victoria. Her name means victory. Read her story and you'll see why.

With only fourteen hour notice, Victoria came home to her adopted parents on the first night of Hanukkah. She was two days old. Her parents called it a miracle.

I'll let her mom tell the rest of the story.

However, the real miracle was not how she came to us, but what she taught us.  At three months old we discovered she was legally blind.  I was “recovering” first grade teacher in Detroit.  I witnessed a lot—but was never prepared for a child with this challenge.  Most people are not.  My daughter is always the only one with dark glasses and a white cane where ever we go.  People don’t know how to react.  But, Victoria always does.  She greets people with a smiley, “HI!” or “What’s up, dude?”  She makes people laugh.  She hugs.  She loves everyone from such a genuine and authentic place.   I’ve witnessed the toughest looking of men melt into happiness around her.

Not once has she ever complained that she was like all the other kids.  She is mainstreamed at school.  Victoria has always been happy being her.  She tries to do everything the other kids can do.  On recess, she runs, swings, and climbs.  She is not the fastest kid or the most graceful--but she has the most joy! 

Recently she went to a sleepover camp for visually impaired kids for a week—longest she had been away from home ever!  She loved it!  She climbed a huge rock wall and made lots of new friends. 

Sometimes, people praise me for raising her.  But, I never look at her challenge as a disability—but a spectacular ability!

Does anyone else need tissues? Victoria is an amazing kid, and I'm thankful to her mom for sharing this story. There are certainly days when I need to be more like Victoria.