From the moment my son entered this world, I knew he would have a different journey than most children. Not because of anything he did — not because of anything he chose — but because people sometimes fear what they do not understand.

The first time I held him, he looked up at me with eyes so deep and calm that it felt like he had already lived a thousand lives. I kissed the mark on his cheek, the one the doctors said was harmless. A birthmark. A piece of him that made him unique, beautiful, extraordinary.