What's Your Story?
You may have read our collection of first-person essays called Story of the Month. This growing collection, currently counting more than 70 entries, includes a range of family experiences as told by the parents of children affected by craniofacial birth defects. Now, we’d like to hear your story as told by you!
If you are a teenager or adult affected by a cleft or other craniofacial birth defect, please consider sharing your own story with others via your own essay. CPF’s collection of stories from teens, In My Own Words, and the adult collection, From Where I Stand, are viewable at the CPF website. For teenagers 18 or younger, permission from a parent or guardian will be required via signed release.
A few guidelines to consider:
- Length. While we are flexible about the length of your essay, somewhere around 500 words is a great goal to begin with.
- Photos. Everyone loves a good picture and a photo or two. It will help others learn even more about you and make your story even better.
- Relevance. Our hope for all stories is that they share some piece of learning, insight or challenge that the reader will benefit from. Think about all the things you’ve learned, seen or explored in your cleft-care experiences and how those things might benefit others.
- Tone. Whether it’s losing your summer vacation to another surgery and recovery or wondering if someone is unfriendly because of your cleft, having and caring for a cleft is a unique experience that can be a challenge to manage throughout your lifetime. The parts of your story that can most benefit others are the parts about when you’ve learned a way to get through some of the hard stuff.
If you’re interested in sharing, please email us. We look forward to hearing from you!
Last Updated: Nov 24, 2009