Wednesday, June 24, 2009

the girl who doesn't age

Girl Who Doesn't Grow

"Brooke Greenberg the size of an infant. The mind capacity of a toddler. All at sixteen years of age."-abcnews

A couple days ago, I finally got around to watching the curious case of benjamin button, and it had be wondering about life stages and the expectations we all have about how our mind,body and personalities will age. Only when see an oddity; aging not behaving as usual, do we recognize how ingrained each stage is.

That's why cases like Brooke Greenberg are so fascinating. Brooke Greenberg has doctors baffled. The years pass but neither her body or her mind ages, at least not as one would expect. While she is not entirely a fountain of youth, some parts are developing and aging, allbeit slowly. There's never been a case like her before. Her mother has taken to conceiving her daughters years in terms of months, while Brooke's body doesn't age, Brooke's mother is convinced that her personality changes. According to her, Brooke has the rebellious nature of a sixteen year old.

One of my pet peeves with Benjamin Button was that while the trappings of physical aging were addressed in some awe-inspiring ways, the mentality of the character through the years didn't always full reflect stages of life: he didn't talk like a child, when he was child or a teenager as a teenager. But perhaps, the lines aren't so clear and aging in many ways is a matter of perspective.

A story about brooke is airing this Friday on 20/20, if anyone is curious.

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