A few weeks ago I bought a head of garlic; not surprising, I cook with garlic almost every day. It was the most perfect looking head of garlic I had ever bought. Multiple people commented on its beautiful qualities and it became very popular in our household (we’re weirdos, I know). When I broke it open I was shocked to find that the inside was not as perfect. It was malformed, had much larger cloves, and lacked symmetry. It still tasted like garlic, smelled like garlic, but the inside was clearly different than most others.
Those with EDS are like my beautiful head of garlic. We appear normal, sometimes even perfect, but we’re configured differently on the inside. We face battles no one can ever understand, whether it be a lack of support for our joints and bones, leading to dislocations and injuries, or the blanketed chronic pain that weighs us down each and every day. Despite endless tests coming back normal, we are genetically and physically different, even if we look like everyone else on the outside. That isn’t to say we are less garlicky, less important, or less impactful. I believe that we are unlimited (with exceptions). We just need to accept our differences and find the opportunities that work for unique circumstances. (Are big cloves preferred? Do you love a challenge with a big heart? A Zebra is for you! Are you a contrarian, gravitating toward the rare and awesome? Zebras are available for adoption!)
P.S. My normal attempt at describing EDS is much more boring. I’m sticking with this version from now on.