Unlike many other people, who have birthmarks on their bodies, I have them on my lips and inside my mouth. I used to consider them ugly. However, my mom calls them beauty marks.

My birthmarks are caused by an genetic condition from my mom’s side of the family. This syndrome causes polyps (息肉), which are small non-cancerous growths in the intestinal tract (肠道). Every other year I have a procedure where the doctor removes them from my intestines. On the day before, I can’t eat anything solid because the doctors need my intestines to be clear so that they don’t mistake food for a polyp. I also cannot drink anything red, because they may mistake it for blood on the scan. Before the procedure they give me anesthesia (麻醉). No matter how many times I go through the process. I always get nervous — but that’s understandable. At the end of the day I always know I’ll end up okay.

My younger cousin faces a similar challenge. She has a huge birthmark that takes up her whole arm. Her birthmark is pretty noticeable and looks like faded red splotches of paint. She’s never tried to hide her birthmark or change her appearance. It really inspires me. She has always been so much more confident about her birthmark than I am. Once, her grandmother told her mom that her birthmark looked extremely prominent and suggested that she should wear long sleeves more often. If my younger cousin’s mom had actually taken that suggestion, my younger cousin wouldn’t be as confident about her birthmark as she is.

I could have covered up my birthmarks a while ago by wearing black lipstick. But I’m glad I didn’t. Using black lipstick would be straying away from accepting facial features that make me different. I am finally accepting who I am and now I won’t tolerate people making fun of me. I don’t hesitate when someone asks me about them either. I say, “They’re beauty marks”.

One evening, I was preparing dinner. Suddenly, while setting the table, I heard a huge crash from the second floor. It was the kind of heart-stopping noise that immediately struck fear into a mother’s heart. My seven-year-old son Mike began screaming for help, and I raced up the stairs without even putting down the dinner fork I held in my hand.

Entering the room, I found my little son Tom trapped under a five-drawer wooden dresser. I could hear crying as I ran toward him. As I leaned over, I saw the terror in his eyes. I pulled the large dresser off him. At that moment, I felt I could move mountains. I was fearful to look but quickly tried to find out how badly he was hurt. I dialed 911 and began to pray. Before the ambulance arrived, although I was in a chaotic (混乱的) situation with both my sons in tears, I tried to be focused and controlled. I felt a strong presence keeping me clear-headed.

After testing in the emergency room, it was determined that he could return home. The doctor said, “Wow, he sure was lucky!”

Back home, my husband straightened up the bedroom and found what we believe to be my son’s guardian angel —only this angel had large wooden ears instead of wings. Earlier that year, my husband’s brother and his wife were on an African mission (任务) trip and brought my son a small, hand-carved elephant as a special gift.

My husband explained the elephant had taken the main impact of the dresser. The carved animal was only inches wide, but those few precious inches gave my son the space he needed to avoid terrible injury. I believe that although it was my family’s mission to visit Africa, it was also the mission of that carved elephant to save my son.