I call this the Face's Of Grave's Disease
On this page I want to have pictures of real people with Graves' Disease or TED (thyroid eye disease). You might ask why. Many people with Graves' Disease or TED do NOT like to take pictures. They will avoid being in a picture at all cost. Yet there are pictures we really should be in. I look back on some family photos and I am not in them. I am taking the pictures, but never in the important ones. Now I feel bad about it. It is like I was not there at all. This is my fault, my vanity that kept me out of these very important pictures.
I do not leave myself out any more. When I catch myself backing away from a photo now, I make myself get in there. I have a husband and children and grandchildren that love me. They look at me everyday. They do not turn away because they are ashamed of me. So, why am I turning away from who I am? Because I do not like the way I look? I do not want to see myself look bad in a picture. That is only my opinion. This is not how my family feels about me. They are not the one's who do not want me in a picture. It is ME.
I can not leave myself out of a family picture because I am afraid of how I look to people. I am who I am, and that is all that I am. I think the famous Poppye once said something like that. And he was a pretty funny looking guy. So, if you would like to show the world that you are proud of who you are join me. It will not be easy. As I write this I am ready to back out already. But, I can't stop now.
I do not leave myself out any more. When I catch myself backing away from a photo now, I make myself get in there. I have a husband and children and grandchildren that love me. They look at me everyday. They do not turn away because they are ashamed of me. So, why am I turning away from who I am? Because I do not like the way I look? I do not want to see myself look bad in a picture. That is only my opinion. This is not how my family feels about me. They are not the one's who do not want me in a picture. It is ME.
I can not leave myself out of a family picture because I am afraid of how I look to people. I am who I am, and that is all that I am. I think the famous Poppye once said something like that. And he was a pretty funny looking guy. So, if you would like to show the world that you are proud of who you are join me. It will not be easy. As I write this I am ready to back out already. But, I can't stop now.
BEAUTY
I had to include this piece written to me by one of my granddaughters when she was 13 years old and I was starting to change with my TED and weight . She is now 18 and still one of my biggest inspirations.