“To be safety in the eyes of the innocent is a gift.
To be a monster in the eyes of the meek is your fault.”
Moonlight Bruises is about my journey of struggling with a chronic illness. I was just two years old when I was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. It has taken my body by storm since I was a little girl. Through the many trials, hospital admissions and the pain of everyday. The autoimmune disorder wasn’t the only obstacle this illness gifted me. Through the weight it forced my parents and I to carry, it wasn’t enough. Not with school, teachers, and my classmates to stifle my fall. To keep me in the perpetual state of never finding any ground to hold. It’s been the worst of my heartache and hurt that I will share. I’ve been hindered, poked and prodded by those who were meant to always nurse me back to better health. To the creative ways I’ve been ridiculed, ostracized, and put down for the invisible illness my teachers would like to “solve”. With an “of course she’s fine”, and a “you need to get your act together.” Through the butterflies, tremors of anxiety, and torrential downpour of my tears. This memoir will take you on the most jarring story of what it’s like to be cut and broken down. With little to any compassion and only bruises that will light the way to another painful tomorrow.
