“Look dear!” he exclaimed. “We have made headline news!”
“That's wonderful dear,” Megan smiled back at him. “Let me look at what it says,” and they both read the news story.
Girl Allergic to Clothing and Everything Tangible
3-year-old Betsy Parker has a unique condition. She was born unable to touch anything, anywhere on her skin, except her hands and feet. Betsy lives her whole life in the nude, and has, therefore, been unable to meet any other children.
Her parents, Carl and Megan Parker, are homeschooling their daughter. She has a six-month-old sister Laura, who does not share Betsy's condition, and has never reacted abnormally to any substance.
“We first began to fear for our daughter at around 3am when she was barely nine months old,” says father Carl. “She had a reaction so bad, her whole skin was purple and she was vomiting. We were unsure whether our daughter was going to make it. It was then that it occurred to us that maybe she would never be able to wear any clothes, ever again, and that we would have to separate our daughter from society forever.”
It was Dr. Derek Crown of St. Hubert's hospital who later confirmed this to be the case.
“I was in shock,” he said. “I didn't know what to tell the parents to do with Betsy. Eventually, I informed them that she would have to be a hermit, who would be homeschooled, and separated from all other kids, but it was horrible ... it was truly, truly horrible.”
Dr. Crown, who has termed Betsy's condition 'Eosinophilic Externitis' confirms that the case is unique, in the world and in history, but he doesn't think Betsy will ever get over it. She will have the condition the rest of her life.
Meanwhile, the Parkers are keeping close watch over Betsy and nurturing her, while Betsy goes about her childhood enjoying her back yard, drawing, playing with her toys and animals, and doting on her baby sister. Her parents have sheltered their back yard so that she can play outside, but only time will tell how the rest of her life will unfold.
Above the text was the picture that Martha had taken of the family standing around the couch, with Betsy, showing nothing but her face, peeking out from behind.
“Well,” breathed Carl. “Looks like they did a pretty good job. We will see what people think. Hopefully, there will be at least a shred of compassion for Betsy now.”
“Me too,” sighed Megan. “I better go back to teaching her. I think break time is over.”
She led Betsy back into the living room and had a simple puzzle set up for her. It was various dinosaurs (a stegosaurus, a pterodactyl, a brontosaurus, a triceratops, and a T-rex) carved into foam, in which a young child could lift the dinosaur shapes out, and put them back into their moulds.
Betsy, first, picked the whole puzzle up to examine it, and the shapes within it. She put her hands on the triceratops, said 'triceratops' and pushed it out of its frame. Then, she moved her fingers to the pterodactyl, said 'pterodactyl' and did the same. As she pushed every shape out, she said the name of its respective dinosaur.
Soon, all five shapes were out of their frames.
“Very good, Betsy,” her mother smiled. “Can you put them back in now?”
The little girl crouched down on the floor, on her feet only, put the empty frame down, and, one by one, she put the dinosaurs back into their frames.
“That's amazing Betsy!” cried her mother. “I am so proud of you!”
At that moment, the phone rang. Carl stepped towards the receiver and picked it up.
“Hello?” he asked.
“HI!” hollered an angry man's voice on the other end.
“Who is this?”
“Does it matter? I read your news story, and I am calling to tell you that you are not fooling anyone!”
“Look,” breathed Carl. “We have been through enough. We felt we had to get our story into the news so that ...”
“What you're doing; it's child abuse! And I hope the police find out the plain-and-simple truth, and get you one day!”
“Well, I know it's a rather unfortunate situation for Betsy, but ...”
“Keeping her shut up in your house all the time, letting her spend all her time running around with no clothes on, not letting her associate with other kids, and trying to cover it all up by pretending she has a medical condition?! Get lost! You are sick! That's what you are! And that goes to your wife as well!”
“I am not pretending! The doctor was there! He confirmed it!”
“Trying to substantiate your hoax by putting a doctor in the picture is not going to work with me!” the man hollered. “And you know what? Go ahead and get your daughter homeschooled! I wouldn't want any of my decent, normal children anywhere near her anyway!”
“There is no hoax!” Carl protested. “She really can't wear clothes, or be put in a proper bed, or ...”
“I don't care!” snapped the man, quickly and shortly. “Hoax or no hoax, your daughter is a freak, an animal, and all people, children in particular, have to be kept away from her! She is sick, and so are the lot of you! Sick sick SICK ... PERVERTS!!!”
And there was a slam on the other end of the receiver and the man was gone.
Carl walked away from the phone in a daze. This sort of reaction was, in no way, unexpected. In fact, Carl had been anticipating and dreading people reacting this very way all along. Nonetheless, he could feel tears welling up in his eyes.
“Megan,” he explained, sadly and dejectedly, as he stepped into the living room. “I think we have found our first adversary.”
8 Betsy Learns the Truth
Over the next few days, the Parkers received several phone calls from people around the neighborhood, and from abroad. Some people who called were comforting, reassuring and understanding. A lot of the people in the neighborhood thanked the Parkers for letting them know about Betsy, and that now they knew why they hadn't been seeing anything of her in all these years.
Other calls were nasty, angry and intimidating, much like the call from that anonymous man the day the story ran in the paper.
Unfortunately, these sorts of calls were not uncommon and it seemed like the majority of respondents had this hating, non-understanding attitude. Some even vented that the Parkers had to remove Laura from the home, so that she wouldn't grow up in a household with Betsy, and, unless the Parkers did so now, they wouldn't let their children play with Laura either.
“I find it sad, the prejudice and hatred some kids must be learning,” sighed Carl. “I think it's children with parents like these that should be removed from their home.”
“I'm afraid I have to agree with you,” sighed Megan. “I don't even think they see our Betsy as a human being. It's like she's an alien from outer space that's landed on Earth. It scares them, and they don't know how to react.”
“It's history replaying itself,” sighed Carl. “There have been many people treated just like that: slaves, blacks, Jews, even women; and now it's our sweet, intelligent, loving daughter.”
A few minutes later, the phone rang once again.
“I'll get it,” breathed Carl, and stepped towards the phone, expecting to hear yet another bout of anger and intolerance about Betsy. “Hello,” he said.
“Oh hi,” came a happy, welcoming, woman's voice on the other end. “We read about Betsy in the paper. Thank you so much for telling us about your daughter. I was wondering where she had got to. I have a wonderful young son and daughter. If you want, I could bring my kids over to play with Betsy.”
“What? Really?” cried Carl amazed. This had to be a dream. Nobody had ever reacted this way to Betsy.
“I understand Betsy must be lonely,” the woman continued. “I'm Penny Barnes by the way. I live across the street, on the other end of the road.”
“Well Penny,” Carl continued. “Thank you so much. I think that would be a great idea, but what would your kids think?”
“I think they'd understand, and they're still young enough to feel comfortable about it. I don't think it's going to hurt them in any
way. My son, Kyle, is five, and my daughter, Emma, is three.”
“Certainly!” cried Carl. “Betsy would be delighted. Would you be able to bring them over this afternoon?”
“Sure, I'd be able to. How does three to five o'clock sound to you?”
“That would be lovely. See you then.”
And they hung up.
Carl was ecstatic! Upon putting the receiver down, he ran to his wife and told her the great news.
“That's wonderful Carl!” cried Megan. “I never thought anyone would be understanding enough towards Betsy to let their kids come over. I really think, all in all, we did the right thing by putting Betsy's situation in the paper.”
As the Parkers awaited the arrival of Penny and her children, Carl set up some chips with dip, cookies and crackers in the living room. He vacuumed the house, and straightened the pictures. Then, he and his wife waited eagerly in the living room for the knock on the door.
“You're getting visitors, Betsy,” Megan smiled. “The first children, outside of this family, will be coming to play with you shortly.”
“I'm getting friends?” cried Betsy jubilantly. “I've never played with other kids before!”
Betsy ran to the top of the stairs, all excited, eagerly awaiting the knock that was about to come. For the next ten minutes, she didn't move. She stood there, in exactly the same place, her little eyes intent on the door.
When the knock finally came, Betsy let out a squeal of delight, hurried down the stairs and pulled the door open.
“Hello there!” cried the woman at the other side. “You must be Betsy Parker.”
This woman was accompanied by a man, of similar age, obviously her husband, a little boy, and a little girl.
“I'm Penny Barnes, and this is my husband Jack,” she explained, facing Mr. and Mrs. Parker. “Well, children,” she smiled, turning to her kids. “Feel free to come in and meet Betsy. She has an allergic skin condition that prevents her from wearing any clothing, but I know she is just like any other girl on the inside.”
“Oh boy!” cried Kyle, and ran into the house, without even taking his shoes off.
“Kyle!” called his mother. “Shoes off, please.”
“Yes, mom,” he sighed. He stepped back down the stairs, and removed his shoes on the landing.
Emma knelt down, and quietly removed her shoes before entering the house.
“Now,” smiled Penny. “We will leave you to it. See you at five o'clock.”
“Come on,” beamed Betsy to the two children. “I will take you to the living room.” She stepped back up the stairs, leading the children inside.
She led them to the coffee table, where the treats were set up. In a minute, Betsy, Kyle and Emma were digging into the chips, cookies and crackers.
“These are delicious!” cried Kyle. “I could eat these every day!”
“Not every day,” chuckled Emma, “You need your veggies too. Mommy said so.”
“Mommy doesn't know what good food is,” smirked Kyle to his sister. “She says it herself 'You don't know it if you don't try it' and I've never seen her try cookies.”
After they had had enough of eating treats, the children proceeded to play hide and seek around the house.
Betsy never hid, but she did all the seeking. She didn't trust herself to not brush against the interior of any place where she would be hiding. At one point, Betsy found Emma hidden in the broom closet. Later, Kyle thought it would be clever to hide in the cupboard, but Carl informed him that the cupboard was out of bounds.
Eventually, Betsy and the other children had had enough of hide and seek, and she led them out into the back yard. Betsy stepped over to the corner of the yard, brought out a soccer ball, and the children proceeded to play. It wasn't actual soccer, but they kicked the ball around the back yard and between each other. Betsy and her new friends walked, sometimes ran, around the yard, chasing the ball, so they could kick it somewhere else. Sometimes, one kid would kick it somewhere far away, out on the yard, away from the others, and all three children ran, laughing, after the ball to continue playing with it. All the while, every child watched the ball in case it came to him or her.
Kyle and Emma spent the entire two hours dressed, including the time outdoors, but before either the children or Betsy's parents knew it, there came a knock on the door. It was five o'clock, and Mr. and Mrs. Barnes had arrived. “I'll go get Kyle and Emma,” Carl explained.
He stepped towards the back deck, as Penny and Jack followed.
“Oh, that is beautiful,” breathed Carl when he saw the children playing their own version of soccer. “I can't even bear to disturb it. Would you mind if I get a picture? You'd be okay with your children being in it, wouldn't you?”
“Of course,” replied Jack.
Carl dashed to his room and got his camera.
He returned to the deck, seconds later, with the camera around his neck. “This is the most innocent thing I have ever seen,” Carl beamed. “My daughter, completely naked and at ease, respecting the other children's choice to be clothed, and the other children completely at ease with my daughter the way she is, all three simply playing soccer on the lawn. I envy Betsy; I really do. I wish I could become just like her, and stay that way all the rest of my life.”
He pressed the shutter, and the picture was taken.
Penny was the one to disturb this scene. “Kyle, Emma, it's time to go home now!”
The little boy and girl sighed and turned away from the ball.
“That was fun, Betsy,” smiled Kyle. “I hope I can come over to your house again.”
“See you later!” Betsy called, waving after him.
In a few more minutes, Kyle, Emma and their parents had left.
Betsy's homeschooling was proceeding amazingly well. By the time the regular schools' classes had ended for Christmas Holidays, Betsy could sing the alphabet, and count to ten. She was saying the names of animals and objects in picture books.
“Say, Betsy,” Megan smiled. “What do you want for Christmas?”
“A chocolate Santa,” grinned Betsy.
“That's all?” asked her mother. “You don't want anything more?”
“Nothing more,” Betsy beamed.
“Very well,” said Megan, and proceeded to leave the room.
“Oh!” Betsy called, as her mother was almost out. “I know what more I want.”
“And what's that?” asked Megan.
“You, daddy, and Laura,” Betsy beamed back at her.
“Oh you sweet little thing!” Megan cried, and ran back into the living room, spread her arms wide, and just as she was about to wrap them around Betsy, Megan cried ...
“Oops! So sorry! Forgot for a moment, I can't do that!”
Megan put her arms back to her sides, and with a disappointed expression, left the room.
Betsy watched her mother leave the room. Tears formed in the little girl's eyes, and she began to cry.
Megan, not knowing what to do or say, stepped back into the living room, and cried too. Seeing each other crying reassured both the mother and daughter, and soon, they had got over their feelings of hurt and dried their tears.
“Let's be happy,” wept Megan still sniffling a little. “It is just about Christmas after all.”
The Christmas season came for Betsy, just as it had the past few years. However, over the past several days, Carl and Megan could feel Betsy's sense of withdrawal, that they had sensed all summer, intensifying. She was growing quieter and quieter, and she was smiling far less often than she used to. She seemed lost in her own world, and confused.
It had gotten to the point where it was no longer subtle, but painful and obvious. Anybody would have been able to see the change by now.
“Should we ask her what's wrong?” Megan asked. “Try to comfort her?”
“No,” replied Carl. “Give her some time; she'll speak out on her own.”
On the morning of Christmas, Betsy looked at the chocolate Santa her parents h
ad given to her, but she showed no interest in eating it. Finally, she looked up at her mother and asked,
“Something's wrong with me, isn't there?”
“Oh Betsy!” her mother cried. “How do you know?”
“I don't go to school. I don't see other kids. You all wear clothes, but I can't.”
When Megan looked at Betsy, she could feel her daughter's sense of loss within herself. Megan proceeded to remove her pants, keeping everything else on, even her underwear, and sat down on the couch.
“Here Betsy,” Megan beamed. “Come sit on my lap.”
Betsy stepped towards her mother, turned around, and sat on her mother's bare lap. It was such a relaxing position, for Betsy, that a smile, a ray of sunlight, broke through the clouds on Betsy's face, and she made another one of her playful laughs.
“Thank you, Mommy,” Betsy smiled. “I like sitting like this.”
But as Betsy relaxed on her mother's lap, her overall mood remained quiet and saddened, so her mother spoke to her once more.
“Betsy Alicia Parker,” her mother breathed happily to her. “You are a wonderful girl; you show a quality of love and compassion I have never seen from anyone else who has come into my life. We are all different, Betsy; every one of us. In all of this world, there are no two people who are the same, and you are a person too, and different; and you know what's best of all? You're my little girl. I love you, I will always love you, and I will love you no matter what other people think of you, no matter what other people say about you, no matter how other people treat you.”
“But you're the only one who says that, you and daddy. Why don't others like me?”
“You see, Betsy; nobody else on this planet gets the reactions on their skin that you do. Not me, not daddy, not Laura, not the Nelsons, not the Barnes's, nobody. Everybody has to wear clothes, and keep them on at all times. It's the way of human life. Society will expect you to wear clothes too, but you can't, because you're allergic to everything that touches you on the outside. I'm sorry Betsy, but the way you spend your life, always in the house or back yard, is the way you're going to be living all the rest of your life. I wish there was something I could do about it, but I can't.”
The Sheltered Life of Betsy Parker Page 5
