I was watching yet ANOTHER re-run of America's Next Top Model today, you know, Cycle 3 with EVA. (I was rooting for Amanda the whole time, but whatever ;) and Amanda's perspective on life was just intrigueing. When she made that comment like, "I appreciate every sunrise, every drop of dew on every leaf because one day I will be completely blind," that really threw me back. Why don't people see the benefit of the life they have? Why is it only when tragedy strikes that someone becomes aware of how fragile it is?
I grew up with an older sister who had cerebral palsy. For those who aren't familiar with this neurological disease, it's a condition that happens before birth or at birth where the body basically becomes a vegetable: you become paralyzed permanently. I was born four years later and as I grew, I was not aware that my sister was "abnormal." They way I saw it, and how it really is, was that Katie was just a prisoner of her own body. Although she couldn't walk, hardly move, talk, or do simple things like feed herself or scratch an itch, her mind was completely uneffected. She laughed at the cartoons on tv and cried when my parents got in a fight. I had to help my mom feed her through a G-tube and help bathe her and change her diapers. When my sister died at the age of 15 when I was 12, I realized what a blessing she was. Never again did I take advantage of my life, and I tried to live in the moment.
Two years later when I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease, I just remember thinking, "Why us? What did my family do to deserve this?" Crohn's disease is an incurable inflammatory gastrointestinal disease and runs from my stomach all the way down to.. you know where. I have had such drastic life changes, but I still think about Katie and her condition and there is no way that I deserve to be selfish and complain about my condition.
So I guess what I'm really getting at in this blog is, why do I hear girl's at school complain that they don't have that new Abercrombie hoody when there are people like Katie who can't get up and dress themselves? Why is it that there are some people who go out drinking every night and see no side effects when I can't drink a cup of milk or can't eat an ear of corn without my insides bleeding? WAKE UP PEOPLE! There's more to life than being popular and looking good.
Today I read this article about these autistic triplets. At 18 months of age, they started showing signs of autism, such as lining up all their toys, keeping to themselves, wandering the halls at night screaming, and simply stop talking. As their parents tried seeking medical help, the doctors refused to diagnose any condition until finally when the triplets turned four years old. Unluckily for them, autism can be controlled and treated easier the sooner it is diagnosed. This was in 2001, right when autism was being discovered.
I am going to Capital University next year to major in nursing, hoping to help children like these out with their conditions and even seek to find a cure. I hope by reading this blog you too can appreciate the life you live. Step back and look at it for a minute... what do you see? What was the highest point of your life? Was it when you were rewarded, or was it a time when you SINCERELY enjoyed life? What was your lowest? Was it because you dind't get what you want, or was it out of worry for someone else? I hope all of you have so far lived life to the fullest, and if you haven't, it's not too late to start!! Get out there, put a smile on, and live your life, one day at a time.
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