I knew this was coming some day. I even predicted on this very blog that it would. It ended up happening sooner than I thought.

 By first glance, Jonalyn doesn’t “look” disabled. While her face is small, her features are normal. Unless you see her walking, you don’t guess that she has CP.

 I know we’ve gotten stares before when we’ve had Jonalyn out in her big stroller. Lately, of course, she’s been using the big stroller more than usual. We’ve gotten more stares than usual. It wasn’t as bad when she had her casts.

Yesterday, the first comment came. At a soccer game at a Christian school. We were early and I was pushing Jonalyn in the stroller up to the building to use the rest room. A woman coming the opposite direction did a double take. Then she remarked, “That’s quite the stroller.” She said it in a hesitating sort of way. Not with a smile.

I didn’t comment. Some days, frankly, it’s not worth the energy.

Feel free to tell me if I’m off base here. Perhaps she didn’t mean it the way I took it. I try not to play the victim and look for bias around every corner. She probably didn’t understand. Yet I felt the question her look asked. “Why is such a big girl in a stroller?”

I’m as guilty as anybody and guiltier than most when it comes to judging people on appearances. It’s a sin I have to deal with on an almost daily basis. So, along with me, will you pledge not to pass quick judgement on people until you know the entire story? And if you don’t know it, can you try to think of a circumstance that would explain the situation?