Mum made up her mind about one
thing: she wouldn’t overcompensate
for my disability and I wouldn’t be
treated any differently to my brother
and two sisters.
Well, my interfering Nana had
other ideas. When she learned of my
dwarfism, she suggested that Mum
should hide me away from the world.
When Nana grew up, disabled people
were often treated as a shameful
secret and were segregated and
institutionalised. To her, I was a bur-
den on the family. Thankfully, Mum
wasn’t going to have a bar of it.
When Nana would visit, she would
often reach into her purse, whip out a
$5 or $20 note and hand it to my sister
Jill. This was the 1970s and that was
a lot of money back then, especial-
ly as a kid. “Here you go, Jill,” she’d
say brightly. “Some pocket money.”
Then she would wheel around, her
eyes narrowing, and give me 10 or
20 cents. “You don’t need money like
your sister does,” she’d say, f lashing
me a look of disapproval.
“Thank you, Nana,” I’d say politely,
as I had been taught by Mum. But
then I’d walk away from the exchange
feeling heav y and sad, wonder-
ing why my sister got more money
than I did.What made her worth so
much more than me?Nana’s subtle
put-downs throughout my child-
hood reinforced what I learned to
believe about myself – that I was a
second-class citizen.
From as far back as I remem-
ber, I’ve had the desire to escape.
At home, if I ever heard the distant
rumble of a plane f lying overhead,
I’d run out into the back garden and
gaze up into the sky, imagining what
it would be like to f ly.
The start of primary school was
challenging. Even though Mum had
adjusted my uniform to fit and made
sure my hair was short so as not to
accentuate my large head, there was
no getting away from the truth: I wasmuch shorter than everyone else and
a bit odd looking. I’d only been in
primary school a few days when the
cruel insults began. “Hey, Fathead.”
“He y, Shor t ie.”
Kids can be like that – inquisitive
and, occasionally, cruel. I remem-
ber many times looking up at their
faces, heart pounding, and feeling
the shame of Dr Spence’s words, “You
will never be tall.”
Fuelling the comments were one
or two ringleaders who were muchTHERE WAS NO GETTING AWAY
FROM THE TRUTH:I WAS MUCH SHORTER THAN
EVERYONE ELSE AND A BIT ODD LOOKING121
“My Life in Short”