If you knew our family casually, or even a little more than casually, you’d never suspect Dora was anything other than a normal nine-year old girl living a normal life with a mostly normal family.

We do normal things, like go the movies or the beach. We lose the TV remote and get blame-y. We take walks and bike rides. We like the library. Dora strong-arms us to take her to Michaels craft store, her happy place, and we are generally happy to oblige.

“Dora is daydreamy,” you might say.  

Or, if you spent more time with her, “She’s shy.”  

“She’s sensitive,” our dear friends Pammu and her son would say.

My mother says, “She’s a very sweet child, a funny combination of very active and very shy.” Read More