John, my cousin, can walk into a room, and make anyone smile. One glimpse at his dark hair, and beard, with tattoos on his arms, you might get the wrong impression, as if he is mean or rude, but he is the complete opposite. Until you see his bright smile that could make the saddest person happy. The first question he asks when he sees a friend is, “how are you.” he is so selfless, happy, and positive towards everyone around him. I am amazed by how happy he is despite all the problems he has faced thought his life.

As a child, he was born premature, doctors did not know he had a walking disability until he became older, and started to walk. He would try to walk, but could never do it right, he could not completely straighten his legs. John has a disorder called Cerebral Palsy. He went through around 10 excruciatingly painful surgeries to try, and fix his terrible walking problem, but in the end none of them worked. Although he went through so much pain, and saw no results he would always be smiling. In pictures i’ve seen of him as a child he has the biggest smile, and looks to be the happiest kid.

His walking disorder made it hard for him to fit in high school. Although he did not have a wheelchair, he did have crutches throughout all of his high school years. People would not make fun of him, because he had crutches, but the way he would walk made them laugh. Its almost as if his knees are bent inward permanently to the point where he can not fully lengthen his legs. To some people the way he walks is funny. I do not find it funny. The kids would tease him, and make fun of him, because of how he walked. I always felt so bad for him, because i view his a normal person. Until one day he told me, “I never let the people who made fun of me get to me, I would just smile at them.” I found it amazing how he ignored the negative attention, and stayed strong. John pushed passed all the bullying, and stayed positive, and kind to everyone around him. Although he did miss quite a few days, and even weeks of school, from his surgeries, he finally graduated from high school. I remember him telling me how he had focused on his interests in school, for example the mechanic, and engineer classes he took, help ignore the judgmental people.

A few years later he grew up, he is now around 42 years old, and works at a bank with a wife, and a baby boy on the way. His whole life he had pushed passed all the negativity he had gotten, and now he would do anything to bring a smile to a friend or even a person he does not know. Often he asks to take me out to dinner or a movie, just to brighten my day. He has shown me how to put the happiness of your friends, and family before your own. His favorite quote to say is,”a smile goes a long way.” It’s like he follows by this quote, because whenever i see him he's smiling, and doing anything he can to bring happiness to anyone, and everyone he meets.