This is just something I wrote several years ago. I was fortunate enough to have it published in the local newspaper. Here is the paper...hope you enjoy
Forrest Gump said it best, I think, when he said, Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what youre gonna get. When I look at everything that has happened to me in my life, I can relate the events to the different pieces of chocolate that have fallen into my own box of chocolates.
The first and probably the biggest piece fell into place when I was born, my moms third child in four years, with a birth defect called neurofibromatosis. The disease causes tumors to grow in different parts of the body, at different stages in ones life. At its worst, tumors can grow around your esophagus, cutting off the air supply and causing death.
Even though the disease is rarely fatalusually the primary concern is the disfigurement it causesmy parents didnt want to take a chance on losing me, so I spent the first couple of months of life in the hospital, having numerous tests done. No further symptoms showed up, but the doctors waited until I was 14 to say that I would be all right.
I think that having this birth defect will play a major part in my life and what I decide to do because it has taught me to value life.
Another large piece of chocolate in my box is my inability to speak clearly. When I was 3 years old, I still had not started talking, except for baby talk that my older brother and sister understood and would translate for my parents. When my parents enrolled me in speech therapy, I knew only three sounds.
During the next 10 years, the hardest thing for me to deal with was the teasing and laughter of my peers. I couldnt understand why people were laughing at me when I couldnt help the fact that I couldnt speak clearly. It was beyond my control, I had a very hard time in speech therapy trying to master all the sounds in the English language.
My last day of speech therapy came when I was in the eighth grade. Five teachers had tried to help me conquer speaking. The odd thing was that, while I entered speech therapy knowing only three sounds, I was released that day unable to master three sounds. I still get laughed at once in a while, but that is far better than getting laughed at every time I try to talk. Even though I still stutter and sometimes speak too fast for people to understand me, I am getting better every day. I get a lot of practice as a waiter at my familys restaurant, where I get to talk to people all the time.
I think that having this speech problem will play a major part in my lifes decision for it has taught me how to empathize and be patient with other people.
Another factor in my box of chocolates is the circumstances that were a part of my family for several years. We were living in Houston. My dad was in and out of restaurant work during the early 80s; by 1987, he was out of a job and couldnt find anything to do to support our family. We ate the same thing over and over againeggs and potatoes.
Then, friends of ours who lived about an hour away in a tiny town asked us if we would like to buy their restaurant. They made it possible for us to acquire the restaurant, so we moved to Round Top in May of 1987.
The restaurant was a little eight-table café in the country that served typical country food. In the months and years to come, we would change the cafés atmosphere and its menu from hamburgers and chicken-fried steaks to grilled quail, salmon and pastas. All members of the family work in the business and contribute. The move changed our lifestyle for good and working in the restaurant business has changed all of us.
I think that our having the restaurant will play a major role in my lifes decisions, for it has taught me how to deal with people and problems. This is a great asset.
A smaller piece of chocolate is having migraine headaches. These could be due to my birth defect or inherited from my mother. I have been going to a neurologist since I was 3. When I am experience a migraine attack and am laying in bed trying to sleep I ask, Why me, God? Though God doesnt always answer our whys, I think perhaps God has chosen me so that I might be able to help other people in pain.
At one time, I though of becoming a neurologist; however, now I am leaning toward the field of psychology. My mother is a psychologist; I feel that I can talk to her about anything.
Which brings me to the last piece of chocolate, the one that is the most important to me. This piece is my family. My family always has been there for me, behind me 100 percent, which helps me get through life. I am very glad that our family is so close.
We are not like many other families with problems plaguing them. If I ever have a problem I know that they will be there and guide me through the hard times.
My life has been very difficult. Even though there have been times that I just wanted to quit, I look at how far I have come and how much I have been through. My parents keep telling me that I should never give up.
I think that having a family such as this has taught me how to love and how to persist and will be a major factor in my decision about what to do in lie.
There are a lot of different pieces of chocolate in my box, with room for more pieces as I grow. When I think of the circumstances that God allows in our lives, we all have our own assortment of chocolates. I hope that I will allow the many rich flavors of my life to shape my decision and that I can enjoy the uniqueness that makes my life my own.
Second installment, plus other stuff dealing with the 'Box of Chocolate' issue to be posted in the upcoming days (if y'all are interested).
Forrest Gump said it best, I think, when he said, Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what youre gonna get. When I look at everything that has happened to me in my life, I can relate the events to the different pieces of chocolate that have fallen into my own box of chocolates.
The first and probably the biggest piece fell into place when I was born, my moms third child in four years, with a birth defect called neurofibromatosis. The disease causes tumors to grow in different parts of the body, at different stages in ones life. At its worst, tumors can grow around your esophagus, cutting off the air supply and causing death.
Even though the disease is rarely fatalusually the primary concern is the disfigurement it causesmy parents didnt want to take a chance on losing me, so I spent the first couple of months of life in the hospital, having numerous tests done. No further symptoms showed up, but the doctors waited until I was 14 to say that I would be all right.
I think that having this birth defect will play a major part in my life and what I decide to do because it has taught me to value life.
Another large piece of chocolate in my box is my inability to speak clearly. When I was 3 years old, I still had not started talking, except for baby talk that my older brother and sister understood and would translate for my parents. When my parents enrolled me in speech therapy, I knew only three sounds.
During the next 10 years, the hardest thing for me to deal with was the teasing and laughter of my peers. I couldnt understand why people were laughing at me when I couldnt help the fact that I couldnt speak clearly. It was beyond my control, I had a very hard time in speech therapy trying to master all the sounds in the English language.
My last day of speech therapy came when I was in the eighth grade. Five teachers had tried to help me conquer speaking. The odd thing was that, while I entered speech therapy knowing only three sounds, I was released that day unable to master three sounds. I still get laughed at once in a while, but that is far better than getting laughed at every time I try to talk. Even though I still stutter and sometimes speak too fast for people to understand me, I am getting better every day. I get a lot of practice as a waiter at my familys restaurant, where I get to talk to people all the time.
I think that having this speech problem will play a major part in my lifes decision for it has taught me how to empathize and be patient with other people.
Another factor in my box of chocolates is the circumstances that were a part of my family for several years. We were living in Houston. My dad was in and out of restaurant work during the early 80s; by 1987, he was out of a job and couldnt find anything to do to support our family. We ate the same thing over and over againeggs and potatoes.
Then, friends of ours who lived about an hour away in a tiny town asked us if we would like to buy their restaurant. They made it possible for us to acquire the restaurant, so we moved to Round Top in May of 1987.
The restaurant was a little eight-table café in the country that served typical country food. In the months and years to come, we would change the cafés atmosphere and its menu from hamburgers and chicken-fried steaks to grilled quail, salmon and pastas. All members of the family work in the business and contribute. The move changed our lifestyle for good and working in the restaurant business has changed all of us.
I think that our having the restaurant will play a major role in my lifes decisions, for it has taught me how to deal with people and problems. This is a great asset.
A smaller piece of chocolate is having migraine headaches. These could be due to my birth defect or inherited from my mother. I have been going to a neurologist since I was 3. When I am experience a migraine attack and am laying in bed trying to sleep I ask, Why me, God? Though God doesnt always answer our whys, I think perhaps God has chosen me so that I might be able to help other people in pain.
At one time, I though of becoming a neurologist; however, now I am leaning toward the field of psychology. My mother is a psychologist; I feel that I can talk to her about anything.
Which brings me to the last piece of chocolate, the one that is the most important to me. This piece is my family. My family always has been there for me, behind me 100 percent, which helps me get through life. I am very glad that our family is so close.
We are not like many other families with problems plaguing them. If I ever have a problem I know that they will be there and guide me through the hard times.
My life has been very difficult. Even though there have been times that I just wanted to quit, I look at how far I have come and how much I have been through. My parents keep telling me that I should never give up.
I think that having a family such as this has taught me how to love and how to persist and will be a major factor in my decision about what to do in lie.
There are a lot of different pieces of chocolate in my box, with room for more pieces as I grow. When I think of the circumstances that God allows in our lives, we all have our own assortment of chocolates. I hope that I will allow the many rich flavors of my life to shape my decision and that I can enjoy the uniqueness that makes my life my own.
Second installment, plus other stuff dealing with the 'Box of Chocolate' issue to be posted in the upcoming days (if y'all are interested).
