These are our scars
We're not embarrassed
They're just our bodies
They may not be pretty
But they show you who we are
Ana and Isa were twins born with cystic fibrosis. In the film about their lives, The Power of Two, there is a surprising scene in which they look at each other and Isa says:
"We have this twins' thing — if you show your scar, I'll show mine; if I show mine, you'll show yours. So it's okay. We have nothing to be embarrassed about."
Ana nods in agreement. "Okay, here we go." As she pulls her shirt over her head, she laughs and says, "And you'll have to excuse the double-padded bra!"
Now both are bare-chested, pointing to the long transplant scars beneath their breastbones. They show other scars from infusions and chest tubes that Ana says look like gunshot wounds.
Ana points to a large scar across her abdomen. "Because I was born with a bowel obstruction, I had surgery at three days of age. And in 1972, the surgeon's attitude was, 'This baby has cystic fibrosis. She's not going to live very long, so we don't have to make the scar pretty.'
"It doesn't really stretch. That's why I look fat top and bottom."
Bringing it into the room
When Isa came to my class, I told her that we had seen the film and that this scene had especially impressed us. Isa smiled shyly. I said that we really appreciated what she had done, and we discussed it as a class.
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We decided that it was only fair for us to do it too. "So here we go. Ready, everyone?" Of course, I was joking, and everyone laughed.
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Although we didn't physically remove our clothing, we did remove some of the defenses that keep us separated from others. We felt the truth of their message: we are all imperfect, scarred by the hardships of life. And although their scars were not covered with gold, we could sense their beauty.