Overcoming Obstacles is Cindy Clinger's Forte

Her roommates and friends describe her as "unusually unusual." Her quirks and habits make people wonder where her thoughts come from. Listening to her, you might think she didn't have a care in the world. However, through her childhood this was not the case. Cynthia (Cindy) Clinger grew up with a host of health problems.

 

Looking back on it now, Cindy can count the number of times she moved as an "Air Force Brat," but cannot count the number of times she has had surgery or been in the hospital.

 

The tall brunette has had to learn to overcome not just the physical problems but also the emotional pain that was caused by being sick. She keeps her hair cut short and wears it in a chunky, flipped-out style. She hasn't always worn it that way.

 

"I always had long hair before I went to college. I never cut it because my mom always told me that it would cover my back, so the curvature would not be so noticeable," Cindy said.

 

She's had the curvature ever since sixth grade when she was diagnosed with scoliosis, a disease that causes the spine to shift into a curved shape rather than a straight line. The curvature limited Cindy's activities when she was younger, and she was required to wear a brace. The brace was designed to prevent the curve in her back from getting more significant. It was molded for her body and sat on the tip of her hips and went up to her chest. The curve, first discovered during a routine check at school, started at seven degrees and stopped at about 32, when her body was done growing. Without the curve, Cindy would be two or three inches taller than her 5' 7" frame.

 

This disease and other medical problems played a big role in Cindy's self-esteem. It was not until college that Cindy thought she looked pretty, and realized she had self worth. Besides scoliosis, another contributing factor to this was that Cindy was born with a sub-mucous cleft palate. The plates in the roof of Cindy's mouth were malformed when she was born. Instead of using traditional feeding methods, Rachel Clinger, her mom, fed her third oldest child by using a plastic bag and dripping baby formula into her daughter's mouth. After corrective surgery for her cleft palate, Cindy was able to eat normally. However, her teeth would still be crooked and her jaw misaligned. During a surgery on her 16th birthday, doctors were able to move her jawbones into place so her teeth came together.

 

"I couldn't eat a hamburger normally. I couldn't bite down on the lettuce. The meat was tough. I would just chew and chew and couldn't break it up. I would usually wind up spitting it out and throwing it away. It didn't have to be hard or tough; chewing was just difficult," Cindy recalls.

Cindy was teased a lot at school. In addition to the jaw surgery, she needed braces. After saving the money she earned from babysitting, Cindy gave her parents about $300 to help with the cost. While most kids did not like the limitations on what they could eat with braces, Cindy said she didn't care because she wanted her teeth straight and the teasing to stop.

 

"Kids would ask why I didn't have a chin. I asked my parents if I had one, and they reassured me. In the back of mind, I would wonder why they were making fun of me," Cindy said.

 

As a result of the teasing she received in school, Cindy was a shy and quiet teenager. However, when she was a toddler, she was quiet for different reasons. Doctors assumed that her sisters talked a lot so Cindy couldn't ever get a word in. Her mother always thought it was something different. After running tests, it was concluded that there was fluid on Cindy's ears and she was not able to hear clearly. Since infants develop speech by imitating sounds they hear, it was difficult for Cindy to learn how to talk. When she was 2 1/2 years old, tubes were placed in Cindy's ears. This was the first of several pairs.

 

"My mom almost wanted to cry when they put them in and I came home from the hospital. There was a dog barking outside the car window and my eyes lit up because for the first time, I could hear," Cindy said.

 

Since then, Cindy has had to be careful about getting water in her ears. Water can carry impure substances and can make the tubes deteriorate and cause infection. Cindy said she remembers wearing earplugs when she would take a bath or shower or go swimming. Over the years she taken several hearing tests and knows her hearing is slowly going. She does not know if she will need a hearing aid, but admits because of her pride she does not want one.

 

Her last physical struggle as a child dealt with her gross motor skills. Cindy was not strong or coordinated enough to complete simple tasks in kindergarten, like cutting or coloring. Her teacher thought she was lazy and immature, but her mother, once again, believed differently. When the family moved to Germany, Cindy was evaluated and therapy started. She went to therapy twice a week for one and a half hours.

 

"They said it took all of her energy to try and hold a pencil that then she would forget what she was supposed to be writing," Rachel Clinger said.

 

Despite all of the medical problems Cindy faced, she was able to overcome with the help of her family. Due to the Air Force, Cindy's family was moving frequently. She was born in Louisiana. Now 23, she has lived not only there but also in Connecticut, Nebraska, Alaska, Germany, England, Idaho, and now Utah. She is attending Utah State University. Throughout all of the moves, she and her five sisters have developed bonds of friendship that may not have otherwise come.

 

"My sisters were my best friends. They were my playmates. We would play school and other fun games. We used to get on the backs of couches and pretend we were trees and axe each other down yelling, 'timber'," Cindy said.

 

Although they were best friends, as they entered their teen years they started to argue more. Cindy shared a room with her sister, Valerie, who is 14 months younger than she. Despite the sibling rivalry most families have, Cindy learned to use a sister as a friend. Valerie helped her overcome her shyness and was a built-in best friend when the family transferred bases.

Growing up as one of six girls, it was inevitable that Cindy compared herself to her sisters. Half of them had brown eyes and the other half blue. She viewed some of them as beautiful and athletic and felt small in their shadows. She admits a couple of times she wanted to play musical instruments or sports but knew it was not possible to be good at it with her mouth and back. Since then, Cindy has developed her artistic talents and can express herself through drawing.

 

In junior high in Alaska, Cindy finally made what she would call a true friend. She was shy and quiet and felt like a loner. By making a close friend, she was able to grow without the help of someone in her immediate family. When the family moved to England, Cindy graduated from high school and completed some college through the University of Maryland. While this made some impact on her life, it was the move to Rexburg, Idaho, outside of her parents' home that helped her discover who she is.

 

It was this move that led to the most significant changes in her life. Cindy said she never had a defining moment when she learned she mattered and had value. As a kid she took the teasing and did not fight back. She is no longer a person to be pushed around.

 

Like many other students, Cindy made changes in her life while at school. She isn't the quiet, shy person she once was. With a funny way to say everything, Cindy has an outlook on life that makes almost anyone smile.

 

"She is so spontaneously random that every day is a new adventure. You never know what to expect. She's a hoot to live with," said Cindy's roommate, Laree Nelson.

 

By having roommates who exposed her to new situations and ideas, Cindy was able to become comfortable with who she is.

 

"When you are in a situation and are younger, you don't realize that it's not so bad and that you are not the only one out there in those shoes," she said.

 

Cindy may have hearing problems in the future, her mouth if looked at closely will always show signs of her cleft palate, and her spine will be forever curved. Through her smile and unusual antics, these problems are not noticed. She looks like any other slim girl on campus with short dark hair.

 

By Jessica Kelly