Friday, April 29, 2011

Way Back When...

While trying to get over this uncomfortable and inconvenient emotional barrier between my feelings and my laptop.. I'm going to start with the basics.
My name is Sara. I'm 16 years old. 16 is the year of great change, right? I found so much more freedom when I got my license! This past summer was my 16th birthday. Until then, I had always been somewhat of an awkward oddball. Yes, everyone has that "phase".. but mine lasted a long while, complete with tube-socks. Super nerd is putting it lightly. Teachers loved me. I got the goofy awards for being a good student, and I was always nice to everyone... that was just how I was raised. Starting the end of my awkward middle school years, there became this pain in my side. I continued to ignore it until it became scarily unbearable. My proactive parents immediately sent me to the best surgeon in the top hospital around. After many tests, they had found a cyst on my spleen. Surgery 1 was a success, and the pain went away. I started high school and immediately submerged myself in everything I could! Then, the mysterious pain came back. Surgery 2 was to hold me over until Christmas break- I refused to miss too much school for a silly thing like a splenic cyst. Finally, during Surgery 3 they took out half my spleen, along with the stubborn cyst. It was benign, which means it wasn't cancerous- it was just a random mutation. So I interpreted this as a sign from God to prepare myself for a career in the medical field. I recovered from the painful operations with a renewed excitement for high school. Actually, I was excited for preparing for after high school. I pushed myself and tried to build onto my impressive and lengthy resume, starting with my 4.0 GPA. I was so proud of my accomplishments! The longer my list of achievements got, the better I felt about myself. I enjoyed every activity I was involved in; I even welcomed the exhaustion from being so busy. I felt like I had purpose. My goals gave me something to look forward to always. I welcomed every academic challenge. I pursued prestigious musical opportunities. I ran long distance year round, and I participated in varsity sports when it was in season. I worked as a life-guard at the local pool, and as a waitress in a family-owned diner. My family and friends supported and encouraged me. I was thankful God had given me so many blessings and I wanted to use the talents He gave me to my fullest ability. Despite the tube-sock days, I was even voted onto homecoming court! I was euphoric and finally feeling confident in myself. I was so happy being in this constant state of motion. One friend even compared me to a hummingbird! I was naive, sometimes overly optimistic, and living the small-town dream. Until (you had to have known that word was coming..), one week in late November, I got sick.

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