jose sebastian
Guitarist, singer, actor and bowler. Positive, fun, silly, joker and an inspiration, are
words that would perfectly describe Jose Sebastian. He’s friendly and fun, loves hugs
and kisses, video games and Mario brothers. Apart from the birthmark that covers
almost all his face, he’s just a regular guy. The difference is that Jose is 75% blind,
slightly limps and doesn’t use his right hand. Yet, he manages to play the guitar, bowl
and be an actor in the local drama studio. To see him laugh, joke and share, one would
never realize how much he’s been through. Jose never crawled, he couldn’t walk,
couldn’t speak and couldn’t eat things other babies and toddlers ate because a grain
of rice would make him gag and choke. That changed with therapies, but at the age of
two, because of uncontrollable seizures, he had half of his brain removed. I was told he
could be a vegetable. Beating all odds, Jose graduated first honors from middle school
and is doing as well in H.S. When he was 5, at the sight of a new day dawning he said
with total happiness and amazement: “Look ma, the blue sky is coming!” That’s how
“I guess he’s known the secret all along,
we’re all perfect just the way we are!
Thanks Jose, you ARE perfect!”
he approaches everything he does, with wonderment and joy. He teaches big lessons
in simple things. People are attracted to his positive, happy and soft personality. He’s an
inspiration.
He was six years old when I had to take someone to the clinic. While I was in with
the patient and the doctor, I left him in the kid’s room; (a supervised playroom for
the children to be while parents are in with the doctors). After a while, the playroom
attendant went to the room to get me, she was excited and I was afraid something bad
had happened. She said: “I had to tell you this!”
I asked: “What did he do?” She said: “He was playing with blocks and a little girl
went to play with him, they were having fun and getting along fine. Out of the blues the
girl asked him: “why is your face red?” We all gasped, waiting, and a dead silence filled
the room. Jose looked at the girl and said: “my face is not red!” the air could have been
broken with a knife. The silence was then broken by Jose’s laughter. He looked at the
girl and said while still laughing: “Oh yes! Yes it is! But you know what? It’s perfect just
like that!” The girl looked at him and said: “Oh, ok!” and they kept playing!” I guess he’s
known the secret all along, we’re all perfect just the way we are!
Thanks Jose, you ARE perfect!
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The Sturge-Weber Foundation