My English/Creative Writing instructor, Ms. Twohill, is asking us to write about surviving life-changing events. She wants to see what we have gone through in our lives, how we coped during these difficult times, and how we have emerged "through the fire", how we came through these crises intact.

Well, if I had to write down everything about what I've had to endure, I'd end up writing an epic novel! LOL I've been through too many health crises to count; I can't really tell you how many times I've been in the hospital: it's all become a blur; they've melded into one fuzzy, long memory: one hospital stay is like the other.

What experience I do remember is the one that happened last December, just before my fourteenth birthday. I ended up in the hospital due to a flare up of my arthritis that affected the lining (pleura) of my lungs. My chest hurt, and it was hard for me to get a good, deep breath in. I got scared because I thought I was having a heart attack; my chest really hurt bad. It was terrifying.

During the hosptial stay, the doctors and nurses made sure I was okay; they all took wonderful care of me. No, I didn't like all the pokes and proddings, but I handled it like a trooper. I just gritted my teeth and bore the pain as best as I could.

I was in a regular room, but I had to wear a heart monitor. I also had to have oxygen prongs stuck into my nostrils. It was uncomfortable, but at least the food was good.

I was in the hospital for ten days. I was worried I'd be in for my birthday, but I made it back home just in time.

I also remember when I came out of my coma when I'd suffered a stroke. I knew something was afoot when I woke up: my face felt funny, and I couldn't move my left arm (or leg), plus I couldn't talk that well. Imagine my surprise when my neurologist tole me I had a stroke. At the news, I cried. I had just turned 8 years old; little kids like myself weren't supposed to have strokes. Only old people had strokes! I was upset because I thought I would be like this for the rest of my life.

Eventually therapy brought me back to where I could walk and talk again; now when people see me, they don't even know I had a stroke because I look--well, normal. I can walk again (with canes, but at least I'm still walking!), and my speech is normal: no trace of any impediment whatsoever.

I guess you can say my stroke affected my physcial self more than my mental self, but for a while after the stroke, I was angry, frustrated, because as I alluded to earlier, I was afraid I'd be crippled for the rest of my life.

The stroke changed me in a lot of ways. It made me realize just how precious life is, that things can happen in an instant, that the future holds no guarantees. Now I cherish each day, and I realize just how blessed I really am because there are kids who have strokes (or worse things) happen to them: they are a lot worse off than me. I see the pictures of me lying in the ICU, tubes sprouting from me everywhere, and I realize just hov far I've come, and see where I am at now; it makes me feel good about what I've accomplished since then.

I'm a living, breathing Miracle! :)

I  have had a lot of things happen to me, as you can see, but I've managed to come back fighting. I guess you can say the Lord isn't through with me, not by a long shot: He has a lot of good things in store for me. :)

The future is very bright for me. I am well on my way. I am working to become a new star in country/Cajun music. I've been performing for most of my life, and nothing makes me happier than entertaining people with my Cajun/country brand of music. I also can witness to them about what God's done in my life, share my testimony with them, and  that makes me very happy, too.

I was, at first, annoyed with this assignment because I am trying to get past my outward physical disabilities, yet people keep bringing it back up. I am not my disabilities; I'm a person with disabilities. That's it. Case closed. End of statement.

If people can't get past my disabilities, then screw 'em. They're the ones with the problem, not me. If people can't accept me, then I feel sorry for them! :(

**************THE END.**************

P.S.: The pic is one of me taken several years back. I'm older now, and walk on canes instead of the crutches.