Friday, June 26, 2009

Smile Train

Joel and I just watched such a beautiful documentary called "Smile Pinki" on HBO. The film follows two young children in India, Pinki and Ghutara, who have cleft lip and palate. They both receive free surgeries, to correct their clefts, from the Smile Train charity.

Of course, given my line of work, I was hugely interested in this show but I was also captivated by the beauty and courage of the children and the incredible dedication of the medical team. As a parent, my heart went out to the moms and dads who wanted so much for their children to have a normal and happy life. I felt such kinship with them given all we have been through with Noelle's medical problems. It really helped me to remember that, regardless of cultural, political or religious differences, the love between parents and children is so universal. Those parents love their children no less than I do mine. I guess this may seem obvious to many of you and, yes, I have realized this intellectually, but tonight it just clicked for me emotionally. It made sense. There was no "us and them" in my heart. I understood what they felt, parent to parent.

If you have the chance I would highly recommend that you watch "Smile Pinki"! You will be inspired and touched.

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