Have you met my awesome little guy Dorian?  He’s kinda a big deal at our house.  He’s so special that he requires round the clock home health nursing care.  He’s on home based hospice care and is always making us laugh at ourselves, at his goofy faces and his infectious happy singing and laughing that keeps him occupied throughout his days.  He makes being his mami a huge honor.  He brings our entire family together.

He and his late twin brother Wynnie have introduced us to having full time staffing at the home. His nurses cover the entire spectrum of looks.  Some are covered in tattoos, some have edgy (if not painful looking) piercings, one rocks dreadlocks, one of them always wears head wraps, some have sported hair in every shade of neon and pastel colors imaginable, one is a guy (gasp!  Dori was excited to finally have a “dude” and says “hey big guy” to him all the time), some wear wigs, some are Nigerian, others are Kenyan…. needless to say ALL varieties and colors are well represented in Dori’s care.

So when I stumbled upon this article this morning about how a woman was criticized for having rainbow colored hair as an Alzheimer’s care nurse, it made me sad.  Her rainbow hair doesn’t make her less attentive to her dementia patients.  Her rainbow hair doesn’t keep her from working long hours on her feet, nor does it distract her from treating some of the most frail members of our society with dignity and genuine care.

I’m glad Dorian has a fun and colorful looking group of nurses.  He loves his nurses.  He tells them at least 10-12 times a day “I love you!” during their shifts.   I joke that he is the real motivational speaker in our house with all his positive reinforcement he dishes out to them on a daily basis.  Dorian is only 7 years old but he has taught us to accept each other regardless of how we look. He sees who people are on the inside.  Isn’t that what really counts?

If only we could all look beyond the surface and truly see each other.  I’m going to do my best to see all of those around me.  I’ll try to block out the negative rhetoric, block the harsh judgements and see people with empathy and understanding.  We are more than the color of our hair, the markings on our skin, or the political rants on our social media.  We are all just people that want to be seen for the goodness we have inside.  I, like Dori, choose to focus on that today.  How about you?