Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

Thirteen-year-old Aven Green, born without arms, is as adept at using her toes as other people are with their hands. She reflects on how she has been raised, by parents who never make her feel dependent or helpless, and instead encourage her to do everything that people with arms can do. Her parents reassure her by praising her unique abilities. Now, Aven is self-sufficient, although some tasks take her more time or are more challenging for her than they would be for people with arms. Only when a little boy at the park is alarmed by Aven’s armlessness—wondering why her arms fell off—does Aven “feel sort of naked” (2). Aven loves making up stories to explain her disability. In kindergarten, she got in trouble for one of her farfetched tales, and her parents advised her to tell the truth. By fifth grade, Aven is comfortable at school with the same group of kids who have known and accepted her all her life, though she continues to make up farfetched stories about her “missing” arms as a joke. But Aven’s life is about to change: her parents plan to move to Arizona.