13 More Days

My trip will be in 13 days. I’m really looking forward to it.

Myself and my friends have all gotten older. Unlike when we were teenagers and such, there isn’t always time to hang out all the time. When there IS time, not all schedules coincide. Also, until recently, I’ve been a lot more tired and worn out so haven’t been able to do all the fun and exciting stuff that my friends and I used to.

I used to love riding my bike. My siblings and I used to ride our bikes all the time. We’d be out riding for hours. My determination to keep up with of them deterred me from wanting to ask for a break to relax. In fact…I didn’t need a break. I could ride and ride as long as it took.

The summer before I was diagnosed with Lupus was a great one, and I’m glad it turned out the way it did. I spent the entire summer outdoors, having fun. I rarely spent one day walking around. Myself and my best friend at the time Nickeisha (we’re still great friends) rose our bikes EVERYWHERE. We spent time at each other’s houses cooking, eating, and watching Tv. We headed to my house to ask my father for change so that we could head over to the local 7-eleven to buy ourselves slurpees. I remember once, Nickeisha and I noticed a commotion in the 7-eleven parking lot so we headed over to investigate. There were promotion people from Mountain Dew there. They were holding a contest.

There was a surprising amount of kids our age there….perhaps 25-30. We had to get into even teams, then between us, drink an entire 2L bottle of mountain dew. The winner got a prize (a prize that I cannot remember….but it wasn’t a great one) My team didn’t win, but I feel that we should have. The team that won cheated…Donald gulped up a whole bunch of mountain dew in his mouth then spit it out because he couldn’t swallow it all. That’s what gave them the edge.

I was pleased that I won a prize all by myself. I won “The Macarena” contest. They had a loud speaker blaring The Macarena just to the side of the 7-eleven. We all were asked to do The Macarena, and whoever did it the best won. I won 🙂 I won a white t-shirt with a cow on it (if I recall, something having to do with milk). I gave it to my Dad. He was happy to get it.

I wish I could revert back to those days. I didn’t have a care in the world. I didn’t worry about Lupus, or dialysis, or broken bones, or avascular necrosis…no worries about perforated bowels, paralyzation, drug side effects…nothing.

It pains me to have to go through all of that stuff, but at the same time, I’m very happy with the person I’ve turned into. I’m not sure what kind of person I’d be or what kind of personality I’d have if I hadn’t gone through all that I’ve gone through. My life’s experiences have made me humble, understanding, tolerant, and eager to learn.

I look forward to going on this trip. It’ll give me the oppourtunity to hang out with my family (minus big bro), to see my aunt, and to explore some new citys. It’ll also give me the chance to clear my head as I’ve been getting the blahs. Kinda down, kinda irritated…and so forth.

I really need this.