The Sheltered Life of Betsy Parker

by E. David Hopkins

  That was when Carl and Megan decided that Betsy's situation wasn't salvageable. If they wanted their daughter alive and healthy, she was going to have to live her life never wearing anything, whether they liked it or not, and they weren't going to try anything else, for fear of endangering their child.

  “Our daughter is starting to crawl,” Carl beamed in awe. “How can any parent not be happy with that?”

  “Soon, she'll be walking,” smiled Megan. “I can just feel it; it might even be by her first Christmas.”

  Betsy crawled briskly, around the couch, with her parents following closely behind her, and she was making happy babbling noises all the while. For the past few months, she was making these noises more frequently, and they were becoming more sophisticated.

  “I wouldn't be surprised if she starts talking soon,” Carl smiled. “That would be lovely. I wonder what her first word will be.”

  “Probably 'mommy' or 'daddy' or something to that effect,” Megan replied.

  Soon, the Christmas season was approaching. Carl and Megan had set up a tree and were taking turns between one parent decorating it and the other watching Betsy. They had fixed a string of green and red lights around the tree, and were now hanging ornaments and tinsel.

  Megan was applying the tinsel strand-by-strand in specifically-selected places.

  “You know, you can get the job done much faster if you pick up a bigger handful, put the first of the handful somewhere high up on the tree, and let the rest slide down to lower branches,” Carl advised.

  “You can do it your way, I'll do it mine,” his wife answered.

  Then, Carl thought of something a bit more productive to suggest.

  “Hey Megan, what would you say if I suggested that we invite the Nelsons over for Christmas dinner?”

  The Nelsons were the Parkers' next-door neighbors. They did not have any children, but they were a happy, friendly young couple. Once every few months, the Parkers and the Nelsons had enjoyed talking together, visiting each other, and inviting each other over for tea, cookies and simple parties. The Nelsons had thrown the Parkers a baby shower when Betsy was born.

  “I would say that's a wonderful idea,” Megan smiled. “But what about Betsy? What would they think of seeing her?”

  “I think they would understand,” Carl explained. “They've lived right next door to us all the time that Betsy has been alive, and it's not like Betsy has a choice about the way she is. Besides, it's Christmas; both Betsy and ourselves could use a bit of company, even if it's for a simple Christmas dinner.”

  “I think you have a point there,” Megan smiled. “You watch Betsy; I'll go knock on their door.”

  Megan donned her winter coat, opened the door and stepped outside. She turned right at the end of the driveway, walked one house down and knocked on the Nelsons' door.

  When the door opened, Megan was delighted to find Anna and Frank Nelson standing inside.

  “Merry Christmas Megan,” beamed Anna Nelson. “How is life treating you? How is Betsy?”

  “Merry Christmas, Anna and Frank. Our family is great, and Betsy is superb,” Megan smiled back. Megan wasn't even sure, herself, whether or not she was telling the truth. “I was just wondering,” Megan continued, “if maybe, perhaps, you would be interested in coming over for Christmas dinner. I know it's short notice, but we had never thought of asking before today, and probably wouldn't have dared to even if we had.”

  “Megan, what's wrong?” Anna asked, in a curious, somewhat concerned voice. “Of course we would be honored to come over for Christmas dinner, but something is obviously troubling you. What is it?”

  “It's Betsy,” Megan explained. “When you come to our house, she won't have anything on. Will that bother you?”

  “Oh Megan!” Anna cried. “Of course not. She's just a baby, not quite even a year old yet. Most babies and young children love to play around in the buff. I would, however, advise that you have a diaper on her, at least some of the time, just to protect your carpet, but other than that, there's no problem whatsoever.”

  Megan struggled with herself. She was finding that telling the truth took more courage than she had thought.

  “Betsy can't wear clothes,” Megan told her at last. “She can't wear clothes of any kind, at any time, anywhere on her. When she was nine months old, she had an allergic reaction so horrible, it almost cost her her life. An ambulance rushed her to the hospital, where the doctor confirmed that Betsy has a unique condition that he has termed 'eosinophilic externitis.' Except for her hands, feet and mouth, her skin can't tolerate anything besides water, a special soap we use to wash her, silicon which we use for her bed, and other peoples' skin. She can't brush against anything, and she can't wear clothing, even if it's made of silicon. Ever since that horrific night, we have been terrified that Betsy will make one stumble that could send her back to the hospital.”

  At this announcement, Anna and Frank stood there stunned. Finally, Frank cried, “Wow! I had no idea! Thank you for telling us that. Of course we will be willing to come over tomorrow. Betsy could use some company.”

  “I only wish she could live a happy life,” Megan sighed.

  “You might want to consider contacting the news,” Anna advised. “If Betsy's situation becomes more well-known, hopefully other people will feel compassion for her, and try, in some way, to help her.”

  “And what would they do? We want our privacy. We don't want to be in the centre of a gazillion strangers nosing their way into this. We'd never get to have peace and quiet again.”

  Mr. and Mrs. Nelson stood in thought for a moment. “Well, you can think about it for a while, and see where the path of Betsy's life takes you. We will come to your house for Christmas dinner,” Anna reassured Megan. “I think it would actually be good both for Betsy, and for you and Carl as well.”

  ***

  On the evening of Christmas Eve, the Parkers hung up three stockings: one for Carl, one for Megan and one for Betsy. Then, they gave Betsy her bedtime wash, and settled her to sleep in her silicon waterbed.

  On Christmas morning, the Parkers awoke, happy and eager to celebrate what they had come to view as their favorite holiday. They brought Betsy into the living room where the stockings were full and presents were waiting under the tree.

  Carl had received a world atlas and a pair of new glasses; Megan had a white-pearl neckless and a box of fudge; Betsy had an ABC block and miniature teddy bear.

  “I gave her the smallest bear the store had,” Carl explained. “Anything bigger and she might be tempted to hug it, and we'd have to send her back to the hospital.”

  ***

  That evening, at around five o'clock, there was a knock on the door. Mr. Parker stopped his work on preparing the turkey, stepped out of the kitchen, and answered the door.

  Outside were Mr. and Mrs. Nelson.

  “Well come on in!” Carl Parker cried, welcoming Frank Nelson with a hug. “We've got the turkey in the oven and I have some mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing and yams prepared.”

  “Well we can't wait to taste them!” Mrs. Nelson smiled.

  At that moment, Betsy raced forward, in her hobbling crawl, to the top of the staircase, with Megan in her wake.

  “And that must be little Betsy,” Anna beamed. “She's a beautiful baby.”

  “I'm so glad you appreciate her,” Megan smiled. “Your presence is very welcome. Please remove your shoes and come inside.”

  The Nelsons removed their shoes and climbed the stairs into the living room. Then, the Nelsons and Mr. Parker sat on the couch, while Mrs. Parker guided Betsy's crawl.

  As Betsy came crawling past once again, Mr. and Mrs. Nelson smiled and looked up at Betsy's parents.

  “You must be really proud of her,” Frank grinned. “She's so happy and carefree, and she's developing such sophisticated movement skills for her age.”

  “Isn't she?” Megan grinned back. “She's a lot of work, but a lot of fun. We can't wait to see how she develops
throughout the various stages of her life.”

  Soon, it was time to eat dinner. The Parkers had the turkey cut up, with the mashed potatoes on a large plate, and the gravy in a boat. The yams were on a smaller plate. Mr. and Mrs. Parker had prepared a plate of mashed, sweet potatoes for Betsy.

  In addition to having a waterbed made out of silicon for Betsy, Carl and Megan had asked Ellen to make a silicon pad so that Betsy could have something to sit down on.

  Just before Megan could place Betsy on her silicon pad, Betsy did something that nobody had ever seen her do before.

  All on her own, she flexed her back, made her hands let go of the floor, and rose to a standing position.

  Everyone, Parkers and Nelsons alike, looked on in amazement and cheered.

  “Way to go, Betsy!” Mrs. Parker cried. “Look at you. You're standing all on your own!”

  Betsy laughed a happy, playful baby's laugh. With her new-found confidence, she walked a few steps.

  “This is wonderful,” Megan cried. “You're learning to walk, Betsy. Way to go!”

  “Is this her very first?” asked Mrs. Nelson. “Has Betsy ever walked before?”

  “She has never walked before,” Megan smiled. “This is Betsy's very first. Betsy, I am so proud of you. I love you.”

  Once again, Betsy smiled at her parents. Then, she turned to the Nelsons and kept right on smiling, a warm, sweet, innocent, playful, loving smile. She made her little baby laugh once again.

  “L-lo-ove,” Betsy said carefully, spelling every sound of the word out to make sure she said it right.

  “What's that you say?” beamed Mrs. Nelson, turning to the baby.

  “Love,” smiled Betsy again, this time with a little giggle in her voice, and a little more quickly and confidently than before.

  “Betsy!” cried her mother, delighted and amazed.

  “Your first word!” beamed her father, “And it's 'love' and on Christmas day too. Oh Betsy, we can't express how proud we are.”

  “She's adorable,” Mrs. Nelson smiled. “Thank you, so much, for having us come over.”

  Betsy turned herself towards her seat and took a few more hobbling steps. Megan picked Betsy up, put her in her seat, and started serving Betsy her potatoes.

  It was the happiest Christmas the Parkers and the Nelsons had ever had.

  6 Backyard Freedom and a Second Blessing

  It wasn't until one summer, a couple of years later, when Carl and Megan started to make plans to build a tall fence around their back yard. Betsy was now two-and-a-half years old, could walk easily, run a little, and had a wonderful crop of light blonde hair that reached to the bottom of her neck.

  Her parents had followed through with their plans to give Betsy a sibling, so that Betsy could have at least one kid around to keep her company and to play with. Megan was currently two months pregnant with child number two. However, she was already having misgivings.

  “It might be like Betsy,” Megan sighed. “We might get another child who can't wear any clothing and has to be put to sleep in a silicon waterbed.”

  “Calm down, sweetheart,” Carl reassured her. “There's no one else on Earth who is like Betsy. She is a miracle, an anomaly. I'll bet anything that the odds of getting another child like her are astronomical; more unlikely than winning millions in the lottery. I am willing to promise you that our next child is going to be fine.”

  “And even if he or she is fine,” Megan insisted. “Think about what we are doing to our second child. How embarrassing it's going to be for him or her to be growing up in a household with Betsy, our naked Betsy, around all the time. Oh, the taunting, the discomfort, the awkwardness there's going to be for our second child. I can just feel it. This wasn't a good idea. I shouldn't have agreed to have another baby.”

  “Yeah, I see,” Carl admitted. “But we have to think about this situation from Betsy's point of view too. We can't have her going through her life never meeting any other children and never making any friends. Everyone faces awkwardness and sometimes embarrassment in life.”

  “I agree,” replied Megan, in a voice understanding to her husband. “I agreed to conceive this baby, and now it's my job to follow through with it, even if it doesn't work out. We are giving Betsy a chance at life. We must give our second baby a chance too.”

  At around noon that day, Carl drove to the hardware store to purchase some fencing, while Megan stayed at home to watch Betsy. Betsy had been outdoors before. The previous summer, Carl and Megan had figured that, with Betsy being so little, the neighborhood surely wouldn't be bothered by Betsy innocently playing around from time to time. However, during Betsy's third outing, some neighbors from across the street showed up and threatened to call the police unless Carl and Megan put something on Betsy. From then on, Betsy's parents agreed that a fence was essential. They had also nailed up a long wooden plank to the bottom of the living room window, big enough for Betsy to always have the freedom of the living room, even when she would be a bigger girl.

  A shopping assistant helped Carl select the tallest, most elegantly-shaped fence. It was rainbow-colored and the top was a beautiful wave pattern. Upon seeing Carl, the cashier told him, “Hey, I know you. You're Carl Parker. You can have that fence for free.”

  “What? Really?” he cried. He couldn't believe his ears. Could the cashier know about Betsy, and why Carl was buying the fence? Carl couldn't think how the cashier could know about Betsy. The Parkers hadn't told anyone. At the same time, Carl couldn't think of any other reason why the cashier would give Carl the fencing free of charge. Oh well, it was a free deal no matter what. Carl smiled back and said, “Thank you. I will let my wife know when I get home.”

  Every day, since that catastrophic night when Betsy was just under nine months old, her parents had been praying, literally holding their hands together in prayer, that one day Betsy would outgrow her skin reactions, or at least outgrow them on enough of her body to be able to wear a two-piece bathing suit.

  However, these prayers had proven to be in vain. One month previously, Betsy had been running in the house when she ran around a corner too fast and bumped one of her shoulders on that corner. It was a simple accident that would have given a normal kid a bruise at the most, but Betsy developed a dark purple area on that shoulder, a red face, teary eyes, welts on and around the shoulder, and lost her breath for a minute. It was terrifying. The Parkers had to call an ambulance, give Betsy resuscitation until the ambulance arrived, and she spent another day in the hospital. However, Betsy made another wonderful recovery and quickly turned back into her happy, loving, playful self.

  When Carl arrived home, he busied himself putting the fence up all around the back yard.

  “Soon, Betsy will have somewhere to play,” he smiled to his wife. “You know, the clerk gave me this fence for free. I have a feeling he knows about Betsy. I'm starting to think we should get her story out into the open, let the news know. Keeping it a secret is only hiding Betsy away all the more, and making us look like we're ashamed of our own child.”

  Megan thought about it for a minute. “I think I agree with you dear,” she replied at last, “but I would give it a little more time. Wait until Betsy is old enough to understand what it's about. Also, I wouldn't want them broadcasting her on television. There would be a world full of strangers seeing her, and weirdos out there who would exploit it.”

  “If they show Betsy, they wouldn't show her whole body,” explained Carl. “They would just show her face, at most, and that is all they would need to show. There's no need for us to be on television either. Our story can be in the paper.”

  By four o'clock that afternoon, Carl had finished putting up the fence. “Hey Betsy!” he called, “You want to come out and play?”

  Carl opened the door to the back yard and Betsy came trotting out. “Yes! Yes!” she smiled, with a giggle in her voice. “I love to play!” She ran outside in a playful trot, clapping her hands.

  Betsy ran across the yard, and came to
a stop at the edge of her splash pool. Carl took her hands, picked her up and put her in the water. The second Betsy was in the water, she began splashing about.

  “You know, Megan?” Carl asked his wife, as he watched his daughter splashing and playing. “I know this may sound like a bad idea, but I've been thinking; do you think we could try at least a little bathing suit, say a two-piece, on Betsy?”

  “Carl, I wouldn't dare!” she cried. “You remember what happened when she wore diapers, whether they were cotton or plastic, and even after we had applied antihistamine lotion. We had to rush her to the hospital in an ambulance in the night. A bathing suit bottom would be no different. You must face it dear; our daughter is not like any other person in the world, and probably never will be, whether we like it or not.”

  Carl decided to change the subject. “Say, what do you think our new baby is going to be? Girl or boy?”

  “I'm not too sure with this one,” Megan replied, “but I guess 'not too sure' is a different feeling from 'definitely a girl' like I felt when I was carrying Betsy. I've heard that mothers who are carrying the opposite sex from a previous pregnancy often feel different from how they felt during that previous pregnancy, so I'm guessing it's going to be a boy.”

  “Well, that's a good guess, and some good logic there. We should think hard about boy names and girl names both though. You picked out 'Betsy' before she was born because you felt sure it would be a girl, but you just got lucky. You don't want to settle your mind that this one is going to be a boy, pick out a boy's name, and find it's another girl.”