Have you ever felt like an aberration?

You know, like something apart from the normal or ordinary.

Take this rose, for instance.

So special

Do you see it? No?

Take a closer look.

So very special

Still don’t see it?

Okay, let’s get even closer and zero in on exactly what I want to show you.

Ahh, so that’s it!

We found this tiny white rosebud growing on our mostly-watermelon pink show rose bush this week.

How did it get there?

Who knows.

But as sure as the sun rises each day in the East, this white rose had sprouted and bloomed on a medium-pink mother plant.

Amazing, huh?

I guess it just goes to prove that aberrations occur in nature periodically.

From two-headed turtles to dogs who mother abandoned kittens to a musical prodigy being born into a tone-deaf family, aberrations fascinate us.

After the initial curiosity, we start asking questions.

How did that happen? And why?

Once, people took advantage of aberrations. Remember “freak shows” in circuses or oddities traveling with carnivals?

How sad.

But you know, being different isn’t so bad, really.

Who wants to be “ordinary”?

Far better to stand out, I think.

Each of us, in our own way, is special.

Different.

With different appearances, talents, abilities, strengths.

Shouldn’t we be celebrating our differences instead of pigeon-holing everybody into the same mold?