Photo Goes Viral After Husband Pays Tribute To Wife With Vitiligo On Their 6-Year Anniversary
BMWK: Then it was worth it.
Nicole: Exactly.
Brandon: There was one young lady who looked like she was in her early 20s she went to my personal page and copied a different picture, and copied 4 pictures and made a picture collage on her page. She wrote a comment on her page, this is real love and hopefully I’ll find real love like this one day. It touched her family members. They commented “we love you, you’re loved, you’ll be happy”. She was encouraged, but it touched the family members who may have felt like they weren’t showing her love. It was ironic, she opened up through us and got a message to her family.
BMWK: Had you two not had pictures of you together on your Facebook page before?
Brandon: Yeah, that picture is reposted every year and we have a lot of family photos.
Nicole: When I was getting married, my skin was at it’s whitest. I’m not as white as I was then.
Brandon: No where near it.
Nicole: No where near. My Vitiligo was really bad when I was getting married. I mean, I look like I have Vitiligo everyday, but my face is more brown now. It’s noticeable, but not as out there as it was when I was getting married. Maybe that’s the reason. I have no idea what triggered it to go how it went. It was nothing extra about the picture.
BMWK: Why do you feel it was important to share your story?
Nicole: I feel that, first off I have Vitiligo, it’s not contagious. There’s nothing that’s awful. My husband actually loves me. He didn’t marry me cause I was different or cause…
Brandon: Her father had paper though.
(all laugh)
Nicole: Whatever. We had comments like she must be rich. Or he didn’t want to bring home a black woman to his mom. So she’s turning white, so now it’s okay.
Brandon: There was also a brother who said I had the best of both worlds.
BMWK: Are you serious? These were adults right?
Nicole: Yes.
Brandon: Early on I thought I had the best of both worlds. Just playing babe. Tiya, I just got a stare down.
BMWK: Be careful now. So, you wanted to share your story so people can know you have it, it’s not contagious…
Nicole: There’s nothing wrong with me. If I can bless someone else to know that you can find love. You are still a person and capable of love. If you have Vitiligo or any other skin pigmentation or anything wrong with you. It does not make you unable to find love.
BMWK: Why do you think people were so curious or reacted the way they did?
Nicole: Anything that’s different makes a stir up. When people don’t know they’re curious. Most people who have Vitiligo cover themselves up with Dermablend or other makeup. I choose not to. I’ve had Vitiligo since I was 5 years old. I have great parents who I contribute that to. They taught me, I’m not my skin, I’m Nicole. My skin doesn’t define who I am. They’ve always been great.
See the rest of the couple’s Q&A on BlackandMarriedWithKids.com. What do you think about their photo going viral?
