One of my Heroes

Today I wanted to talk about one of my heroes. This person isnt famouse or well known for the reason they are my hero. this person simply lives life to their fullest and doesnt let life get her down.
My hero is my little sister Kenzie. she would kill me for writing this but i dont care.
My little sister kenzie is almost 16, a sophomore at a public high school, an honor roll student taking AP classes, and has a great social life. you could say that she is like almost every other high school girl except one thing. Shes Bald.

My sister kenzie was diagnosed with Alopecia when she was 10 and in the 4th grade.

Alopecia is a common autoimmune skin disease resulting in the loss of hair on the scalp and elsewhere on the body. It usually starts with one or more small, round, smooth patches on the scalp and can progress to total scalp hair loss (alopecia totalis) or complete body hair loss (alopecia universalis).

Alopecia areata affects approximately two percent of the population overall, including more than 4.7 million people in the United States alone. This common skin disease is highly unpredictable and cyclical. Hair can grow back in or fall out again at any time, and the disease course is different for each person. there is no cure.

When kenzie was first diagnosed she only had a few spots on her head were there was no hair and her hair line started to  fade away.

In the summer of 2009 kenzie lost all the hair on her head within 2 months.

the first picture is kenzie in june of 2009

the second is a picture of her and my sister colleen in october 2009

Kenzie left 8th grade with beautiful long curly brown hair and walked into 9th grade, a high school freshman completely bald.

Kenzie now has alopecia universalis. she has no hair on her body what so ever. she doesnt even have eyelashes.

kenzie from day one has refused to cover up what she really is. she will not wear a hat or a wig even though it would make it so much easyer on her. she would rather be looked at, made fun of, or judged then comprimise who she is and how she feels.

everyday she has people looking at her and asking her why she is the way she is and she just smiles and explains that she has alopecia and what alopecia is and that she is a perfectly healthy girl and that no she doesnt have cancer.

kenzie has more ambition and drive to be the best that she can be in her little finger then I have in my whole body. 

I look up to her because I feel like I'm always compromiseing myself for what others want or expect me to be and kenzie is always herself 100%. 

I know that if I were in her shoes I would not have such a positive mentality. I dont say it enough but I love her and am so proud of her strength.