31 Days of SMA: We May Have SMA, but We Are People Just Like You

Photos courtesy of Keisha and Kea Molina

Day 29 of 31

This is Keisha and Kea Molina’s (@kandkcountrysingersmusic) story:

Hello, we are Keisha and Kea Molina. We are 27-year-old identical twin sisters from southern New Jersey. We were diagnosed with SMA type 2 at 10.5 months old, never knowing what it was like to walk on our own two feet. Despite the flaws of our bodies, though, we have awesome working brains.

I am Keisha and I am a person just like you! My favorite color is purple, and one thing I could always eat is chicken Alfredo. I’m the real people person out of the two of us and love to be out and about.

I am Kea and I like pink. What I could eat all the time is fried chicken. I’m more of a wallflower. It makes me nervous to be around so many people.

The right men haven’t yet come along, and we don’t have children. But we are dog moms! See? We are people and want to be treated just like anyone else.

SMA makes things challenging. We compare it to being frozen in a block of ice. Our eyes, ears, and mind are the only things able to witness the reality around us while our bodies are “frozen,” unable to interact in our everyday lives. Life for us is like a huge theater screen we can watch, but we barely have a say in what plays out.

Yet even though it can sound sad and dreary, thanks to our faith in God and the love of our family, things always just seem to work out. We know it takes a lot of dedication and hard work from those who care for us. We appreciate and love them always.

So, with much thanks to our loved ones, we are able to pursue our dreams! We are independent music artists. We became singers to empower people with disabilities and show others that even though we are disabled, we have feelings, too. And just like you, we can do anything!

Our first song written and made into a music video is to show the world that we have needs like anyone else: to be wanted, to be loved, and to know what that’s like. For others like us, it’s difficult to find someone who sees us as normal or wants to get to know us despite our disability. But we are normal and we feel love, hurt, sadness, and happiness, too. We are people just like you!

SMA News Today’s 31 Days of SMA campaign will publish one story per day for SMA Awareness Month in August. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more stories like this, using the hashtag #31DaysofSMA, or read the full series.