About

I suppose it all started on March 9, 1967......

But that's too far to go back, isn't it? Let's just cut to the chase, shall we?

The whole achondroplasia thing was there right from the beginning. Egg, a little left of centre sperm and BANG! There's me...and my achondroplasia. I WON THE SPERM RACE! GO ME!

I guess that might of been where the whole running thing started too when you think about it.

For my average-statured parents, I only started having achondroplasia when I was six months old. That's when they found out. No big deal. I think my mother's words were, "Oh! Is that all?"

When I think about it....that's just SO my mother! Pick up the pieces and get moving.

So then all the siblings arrived......two brothers and four sisters by 1980. All average sized, just like my parents. I was the big sister. I was the boss - so they tell me gleefully! I love them all and they love me.

The whole writing thing was always there too I guess. I could read before I went to school. I took to reading and writing like a duck to water. I loved writing stories. I remember my Grade 6 teacher set the class a writing task centred around a shipwreck on the high seas. I was so excited by this task and after 30 minutes I had written an entire chapter whilst the rest of the class had written no more than five sentences. I had a vivid imagination.

I loved to read. Anything. Anywhere. I always had a book in my hands....letting it take me away to worlds that opened up with vivid detail in my minds eye. To me, The Enchanted Wood and The Faraway Tree actually existed. I could see them, feel them, taste Google Buns and Pop Biscuits on my tongue! My love of reading was so much that I even loved reading the back of the shampoo bottle in the shower. Words were pure magic!

I have said for a very long time that I have only been living as a short statured person for the past thirty years. That might sound wierd to you, the reader, but I know what I mean. My "awakening" to the fact that my lack of growth, my lack of height, was actually because I had achondroplasia - dwarfism. Until I was thirteen I believed that I was just uber-short and that one day I wouldn't be.

I was a naieve little thing....

The awakening to the reality of things has taken a long time. A very long time. I'd had four children before I finally understood what having dwarfism meant.

I guess this blog is about me exploring that....educating others and educating myself as I go along. I'm working it all out in my own head; exploring what I think about it; showing my readers what happens sometimes and also showing them that life as an adult at the height of 117cm (or 3'10") isn't really that much different.

I've always said that I only feel different when it's pointed out to me...and even then I can't quite understand why a short person is so fascinating to so many people.....

I met my children's father when I was thirteen years old - in the same place and at the same time I discovered the word "achondroplasia". In the words of Phil Collins, "We got a groovy kind of love". Others may not "get" us but we "get" us - and that's what's important. To this day he remains the love of my life.

I discovered running at the age of 44. I was in a bad place - physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually - and so I started running. Slowly at first and not very far....but I got better and faster and could run further each time I ran. I ran my way out of a dark place. The fog cleared, the cobwebs were brushed away and now running has become my meditation, my mantra. My body is strong, my mind clearer, my emotions more stable. Running 10km is a joy. Yes, a joy.

Random facts:

• I am a vegetarian.
• My favourite muppets are Kermit and Animal.
• I am MAD for drummers!
• I am right handed.
• Toilet paper must be OVER, not under.
• Although I am a runner I hate sport.

So, now for the obligatory FAQ's.

1. Yes I can drive. I have extended, removable accelerator and brake pedals made for me by the amazing Frank from Franks Engineering. Hit him up for your modification needs - and tell him I sent you.
2. Yes our house has had modifications. Lower kitchen benches etc, lower bathroom facilities, low door handles. 
3. No, we don't have scaled down furniture.
4. I gave birth via c-section. 
5. Yes all my children have dwarfism.
6. Yes I could've given birth to an average statured child - and no, that would not have been weird. 
7. There is no history of dwarfism in my family.
8. No, my siblings do NOT carry the achondroplasia gene. It happened as a random mutation. It could happen to any family at any time. My parents were just the lucky ones. They gave birth to an X-(WO)MAN! Mutant and proud! (I want a t-shirt that says that!)
9. No I wasn't always a vegetarian. I have been meat-free now for two years. I drove past one too many cattle trucks...The way we mass produce our meat and then send the animals off to slaughterhouses is appalling. I refuse to be a part of it. 
10. Ask me another question so I can put it here!

Welcome to my blog. Be nice.