Call me a teenager, an adolescent, a young adult if you will, but despite all these labels, I am *ME*..a human being, a person with a purpose in life, and a young person with the ability to write and think.
I am 13 years old, turned 13 back in March, 5 months ago, almost (it WILL be 5 months on the 16th of this month). I am short for my age, and skinny, with long, blonde hair and deep, dark-brown eyes. I have a big nose, and I don't see myself as pretty or beautiful. I am adopted; have been with my family for 4 years, since I was 9; and they aren't TOO bad, as far as families go. At least they love me, and at least they care about me. And at least I know I can talk to my folks each time a problem comes up.
I am presently thinking about my friend, Pippa Yancey, who is the same age as me. I wonder if she has started rehab or therapy yet. She has been in the hospital for 4 months now after suffering a devastating spinal injury that has left her permanently paralyzed from the neck on down; she was struck by a drunk driver as she and I were walking home from school. I don't think I will *EVER FORGET* the sound of her head hitting the road, or the way her body flew into the air after the driver (who happened to be drunk at the time) hit her and then sped off. I wonder if she is angry about her situation, and I wonder if her dad has come to see her. (Her dad lives in Washington State, and he is a CEO for some company out there. He works oodles and oodles of hours. [Her parents are divorced.]) I also wonder if her little brother and sister know about what happened to her; they are just little kids--and one is practically a baby.
I wonder how Pippa will be able to cope with the thought of being in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Will she sink down into despair and depression, or will she be able to rise above her challenge and overcome the odds placed upon her by her neurologists? Will she be able to move again, and will she be able to accomplish great things, like becoming a poet or writer, or even an artist?
I am also thinking about my little brother and sister, Johnny and Ronee'. They are only 9, but both have faced tremendous obstacles in their young lives, things most kids shouldn't even HAVE to face. Both have endured numerous health scares, frequent hospitalizations, several surgeries, and both have nearly died more times than I'd really like to admit. Plus the one (Johnny) happens to be dying of a progressive neuromuscular disease (muscular dystrophy) that has no treatment or cure. I often wonder what must be going through their young minds as I look at them playing on the computer. (They are playing some computer game.) Johnny is confined to a wheelchair, unable to walk except for short distances--and then it's on crutches.
Ronee', on the other hand, CAN walk, but she relies on crutches and leg braces to get around; and she sometimes uses a wheelchair, herself, due to systemic juvenile arthritis that has attacked the joints in her body, causing her an incredible amount of pain. She has also had a stroke last year, on her 8th birthday, a stroke that could have very easily killed her. Both also have breathing problems, and both use oxygen at night; plus Johnny also has seizures at least a couple times a week.
I often wonder if one or both ever think about dying; and I wonder how Ronee' will cope when her brother DOES die. She has such a delicate emotional state; she can change moods faster than anything; and I wonder how her brother's impending death will affect her emotionally. I also wonder how it will affect her health....
And my mom and dad..I worry about them because both are under such a constant barrage of stress. Between their jobs (mom is a nurse at a local hospital; she is the charge nurse; and daddy works at Wal*Mart as a greeter), raising us, their kids, and also taking care of sick parents (mom's parents, Armand and Therese Moliere', live with us, and both have health problems), and trying to maintain some semblence of a respectable budget. (Raising a family like ours is NOT CHEAP.)
And I also worry about them because they aren't in the best of health themselves: mom has arthritis, degenerative disc diseases in her back, and sciatic nerve damage and pain, and daddy has high blood pressure, asthma and allergies, degenerative disc disease, arthritis, and sciatica in HIS back, and is manic-depressive. (He's on medication for all his problems, and so is maman.)
I also worry about kids like Jodie and Todd; they are both severely brain damaged and retarded, and both have severe cerebral palsy and are unable to walk, talk, eat, or even go to the bathroom. Both wear diapers, and both are tube-fed, as they cannot chew or swallow; and both are prone to pneumonia or any other respiratory type illness. (Both have ended up in the hospital on account of their breathing. And, like Johnny and Ronee', both have nearly died more than once.) I wonder about the quality of life they will have once mom and daddy die; and I wonder what is going to happen to them when that time DOES come.
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Terrorism. Wars or threatening of wars. People hating, killing, or hurting one another. Innocent children being snatched from their homes by crazed perverts who prey on innocent little children and then kill them, changing the lives of their grief-stricken, heartbroken families forever. Worries of diseases like the West Nile Virus hitting states like Lousiana or Texas, or AIDS running rampant throughout the world, killing thousands in its wake, especially in poverty-stricken places like Africa. Or Ebola, killing even more in Africa, with no treatment or cure. The thought of people like that athiest doctor in California who want to take God out of the Pledge of Allegience because HE feels "it violates the separation between church and state", according to our Constitution, when this world is already in bad enough shape, now that God has practically been removed from it.
Why all this hatred? Violence? Pestilance? Pessimism? Why can't we learn to get along DESPITE our differences instead of pitting brother against brother or just because our skin may not be the same color? WHY can't we accept our *DIFFERENCES* and learn TO GET ALONG?? WHY must there be so much in the way of hatred and nastiness in the world today? Whatever happened to "peace on earth and goodwill towards ALL MANKIND"?? WHY must we HATE?? CAN'T WE LEARN TO *LOVE*????
Why are people starving, going hungry, even here in a wealthy, well industrialized nation like AMERICA?? WHY are the poor people getting poorer while the rich people are getting richer? WHY aren't the folks in Washington helping the destitute of our nation, providing better jobs, better housing, better opportunities, better health care (or availability to it) for our poor? WHY in GOD'S NAME are the guys in Congress giving themselves over $100,000 in raises when there are people lying in the street, homeless and unable to find work or anything to better themselves or their families? WHY are people worshiping these overpaid celebs who make more than enough money, when a teacher or a firefighter are struggling to make ends meet for themselves or their families? WHY are the seniors in our country EATING CATFOOD and CAN'T afford to pay for their prescriptions?? WHY are they torn between having to choose to pay for their medications or trying to find something to eat????
WHAT IS GOING ON HERE, in America, the Land of Opportunity??
What about these athletes who make oodles in the way of money, and they are complaining because "they aren't making enough to live on"? How would THEY feel if they had to live on what a common person makes in a year, in terms of salary? What if they were among those who call themselves "the working poor"--people who have jobs, but jobs that are low-paying, and they still struggle to pay their bills?? What about those working poor who have kids to raise and work 3 or more jobs just to provide for them?? What would these overpaid celebs or athletes say THEN????
I bet THEY wouldn't like it.....
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I often wonder what it would be like to be able to change the world. Be that someone who found the cure for diseases like AIDS, diabetes, or cancer. Or those people who give their lives for our country and our freedom, or those who selflessly devote themselves into helping others--firefighters, policemen (or women), volunteers, nurses and doctors, paramedics, rescue teams. Or even our military men and women, who are fighting for our freedom and are trying to eradacate things like terrorism from our world.
God bless these courageous people. They DESERVE our unending support, and they DESERVE our prayers!!
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Teens in termoil, teens in crisis. Family strife, drugs or alchohol, rape/abuse, controlling mates, the untimely death of close friends or loved ones.
There are a lot of hurting teens out in the world today, teens without a friend or a care in the world. They don't have the support of friends or even family. Or they may be sick and dying, or they may be taking care of loved ones who are sick or dying, robbing them of a normal teenaged life. Or there are those teens who have to live with things like violence, drugs/alcohol, gangs, or God knows what else; too many times young lives are snuffed out by violence or drugs--and nobody was there to help them through their time of need. Or there are those teens who are ostracized because of weight, disability, religious preference, skin tone, or ethnic background; and they end up killing themselves or others as they go on a murderous rampage, "to get back at those who hurt or tormented them". (Like the Columbine school killings several years back in Colorado, or the school shootings in Mississippi, Arkansas, Oregon, or California. Tragedies that COULD have been averted, and tragedies that DIDN'T HAVE TO HAPPEN.)
Maybe, as a Christian, I could be a positive role model for teens like myself, and show them that I care about them and their problems. I could be a youth counselor at my church (Christ Community Assembly of God), or sign up to help the guidance counselor a couple times a week when school starts up again next month. (I've been told by the guidance counselor at my school that I'd be perfect for the job, as I "have a caring and compassionate heart and personality".)
That would be *SO AWESOME* if I could make a difference in someone else's life!!!
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Reviewed by Drkman
8/6/2002
Karen,
You wonder about alot of things. I am amazed that you are thinking of helping others when your plate seems so full, I admire that alot. Reading about what you think makes me wonder about a few things of my own. You seem to be very well adjusted and have a great head on your shoulders you will do well in life. Keep up the great writing.
Drkman
The sequel to Goalden Girl. Gemma's school football team is well-established. Her young step-sister Portia is also becoming a promising player, until an accident changes her life forever
Ash wishes he has a tough big brother to fight his battles for him, until his wish comes true.
Who is Big Brother and why is he so keen to help Ash? Does Big Brother have an agenda of his own?
