I am my mother's third girl. When I was born, the doctor gently explained to my mother that my left arm was missing, below the elbow(,). Then he gave her some advice, "Don't treat her any differently from other girls." And she did! There were five girls in our family and we all had to help out. Once when I was about seven, I came out of the kitchen, "Mum, I can't peel potatoes. I only have one hand." "You get back to peel potatoes, and don't ever use that as an excuse for anything again!" Of course I could peel potatoes--with my good hand and my other arm. "Jenny, if you try hard enough," she said, "you can do anything." Once in the second grade, our teacher had each of us race across the monkey bar . When it was my turn, I said no. some kids laughed. I went home crying. The next afternoon Mum took me back to the school playground. "Now, pull up with your right arm," she advised. She praised  me when I made progress. I'll never forget when I was crossing the bar, the kids were standing there with their mouths open. It was the way with everything. Mum had the courage  to face anything. and she taught me I could, too. Why did Mum take me back to the school playground the next day?
She wanted to tell me I could do anything. She wanted the teacher to let me try again. She would punish the kids who laugh at me. She would like to praise me before the other kids.