Dwarf: A Memoir by Tiffanie Didonato, Rennie Dyball Read Free Book Online Page B

couldn’t comprehend and he used words that I had never heard before, like “pin care”
     and “consolidation” and “angulation.” But I could make out that this surgery would
     take longer, be more painful, and generally be a bigger deal.
    While Mom was digesting the information, I began to get bored.
    “My birthday is coming up,” I interjected as they spoke, searching Dr. Shapiro’s face
     for that comforting smile. “We’re going to have pizza!”
    Dr. Shapiro glanced in my direction, nodded, and lifted a finger to indicate that
     he’d speak to me in just a minute.
    “There’s a window of opportunity,” he told my mother. “You can have it done twice,
     if you decide to do so, between the ages of eight and twenty.”
    “So if she wanted to do it a second time she’d be in her teens.” Mom paused, then
     looked at me with a small smile. “She could decide for herself then if it’s worth
     it.”
    Dr. Shapiro nodded.
    I loved it when I heard my mom say things like, “She can decide for herself.” I loved
     having any chance to make my mom proud.
    “We would strive for two inches in her tibias first, then two inches in her femurs
     for a total of four inches. It’s the recommended amount,” Dr. Shapiro concluded.
    One night not long after my appointment, I heard Mom explaining the surgery to my
     dad as I played with my Barbies.
    “No, no, no,” I heard Dad say. “More surgery? It’s never ending.”
    Mom kept speaking over him, using some of the big words I’d heard in Dr. Shapiro’s
     office.
    Then Dad left and went downstairs to see Bruiser. I heard the cellar door shut, then
     Mom appeared quietly in my doorway. I brushed the knotted hair of my doll and dressed
     her in a sequined outfit.
    “Tiffie,” she began, “would you like to do more things on your own without the help
     of Mommy or Daddy?”
    “I already do things on my own.”
    “You do things with books and tools,” she said, sitting down next to me. “Would you
     like to do things without those?”
    I nodded my head, thinking about all the books I had to slide across the floor to
     reach the Pioneer system. It was pretty tiring.
    “I don’t like my chair at school,” I replied. “It’s ugly.”
    “I know. I know you’d like to sit in a chair like your friends and like Mom and Dad.
     What about the doorknobs? Would you like to reach those, too?”
    “You and Daddy do that.”
    “But we won’t always be around to help you. You should want to do it yourself.”
    That worried me. Where were they going? I smiled anyway and nodded.
    It was decided. I would undergo the bone-lengthening surgery.

    The morning of my operation, Dad woke me up. As my eyes adjusted to the light coming
     in through my window, I noticed something fluffy and white on my bed.
    It was a new stuffed animal, bigger than all the others from my previous surgeries
     combined.
    “I’ll see you when you wake up,” Dad said softly, patting the giant white polar bear
     with brown eyes and happy grin. “Until then, he’ll be by your side.”
    “Can I name him Frosty?” I asked.
    “Frosty is a snowman.”
    “This Frosty is better. He won’t melt.”
    “All right. Call him Frosty.”
    “Daddy, are you okay?” I asked, sitting up to look at him.
    “Oh, sure,” he said. “I’m fine.” I could tell he wasn’t. “Mom just makes too many
     decisions without me. But you don’t think about that. You think about presents after
     surgery.”
    “Mom says I won’t need so much help after this one,” I told him. “She says I won’t
     need so many tools.”
    “She’s right,” he said, nodding. “She’s right.” He repeated it as though he were trying
     to convince himself that this surgery was worth it.
    “I’d like to reach more stuff,” I continued. “If I can reach the stereo without my
     tools, will you let me play Cyndi whenever I want?”
    “Maybe we’ll even get you your own stereo,” he said with a smile.
    “A pink one! A