Just an Ordianry Life

Just an Ordinary Life

1. Splitting Up
2. New Family
3. Neck
4. Still Life

Splitting up

The day I thought was supposed to be normal was turned around. I walked in to the kitchen, to find breakfast waiting for me. Steaming pancakes and maple syrup, staring at me, beckoning to me. I quickly ate my breakfast and walked in to the living room to watch my Saturday cartoons. Later in the day, my parents walked in, ready to tell my sister and I. “We’re splitting up” my mom said. My sister and I looked at each other confused. “What?” I asked. “We aren’t going to be together anymore.” Naturally, like any kid would, I thought it might have been my fault. Though I was reassured that it was not, I still had my doubts.

I know I will have to move, commute between houses, and live with two new families. I am not ready for change. For change to happen so fast. Like a car moving at full speed. For a kid, an ideal situation is living with both parents, however, it would have been worse for everyone if they had stayed together. If i just close my eyes, I can imagine what it would have been like if they had stayed together. I am glad though, that even though they were not good for each other, they managed to raise me.

It happened so fast. First they split up, then they moved, then they remarried. I never thought I would be a part of two new families. Slightly the same, slightly different. At the time, I thought it was a bad thing to be split up among two completely different people. I did not like change. A normal life was perfect for me. I thought of all the changes that would happen. some good, some bad. Two Christmasses, switching from house to house, new family members, and others. Many new things come with a new family. Many more than I had expected.

Having a new family brings about new changes and experiences. They bring about two different viewpoints. The disagreements between families creates a more opinionated person.
Now new families also cause trouble, sometimes causing me to choose sides.  For example, I may have to choose between my mom’s opinion or my dad’s.
Neck

I walked into the waiting room at Children’s Hospital of Oakland dazed and tired. I glanced at the clock. 5:30 AM. I would want to be anywhere else right now. Asleep, at home, or even at school. Just not here. But my neck has to have problems. It has to be me with whatever scientific term they want to give it. But they have to fix it.

I walked in and got changed into a gown. they rolled me into the operating room and put the gas thing on my face. I proceeded to slowly fall asleep and the surgeon walked in. That is when I fell asleep.I woke up nine hours later, dazed and confused. “Is it tomorrow?” I asked. Not really talking to anyone. Just asking. I looked around the ICU, not even thinking about the excruciating pain like a nail driving into my neck. Thinking about everything that was going to suck about that week did not make that few minutes any better. I would have to do homework when I returned home. I would have to wear a neck brace for four months. I would have to also return to school soon. To me, nothing sounded good. Not even food. The drugs made me nauseous. Nauseous like I just stuck my head in a gas tank and inhaled. I refused food and was not able to finish the stuff I had. Everything around me seemed uninteresting. Even the TV. Nothing good was on. The TV seemed useless. Swinging around to go right in front my eyes. Volume so low that I have to lean forward. That just seemed like too much work.

Still Life

The day I left the hospital, I only cared about one thing, and that was getting a burrito. The hospital food never excited me, being jello, defrosted meat, and soggy fries. As soon as I got out of the hospital doors, I walked to the car and sat down. The drive only took a few minutes, and soon I was home. Except there was a difference. I could not turn my neck. I felt as still and straight as a lamp. One push and I could just fall over. When I had the burrito, it felt like a gourmet dish. The nasty food from the hospital did not compare to even a mediocre burrito. The beans, rice and cheese, placed perfectly in to the burrito felt like heaven on my taste buds.

For the next few weeks, I did not have to go to school. Even if that was the case, I still had to do homework.  New material I had not yet been exposed to. Such as Spanish. I had to do many worksheet pages and even take a quiz, on stuff I had not even seen in my life. I did not like this because I was not actually learning anything. Just copying out of the book.  

When I actually returned to school, it hit me that I had to do work. The easy days at home I had did not compare to eighth grade. Though eighth grade was not hard, compared to staying home it was as challenging as calculus.

New School

In the middle of eighth grade, I had no idea that I would be going to ASTI. I thought Alameda High was my only choice. Later, I found out about ASTI and thought that I may apply. My plan originally was to go to Alameda High, and I did not know what I would do if I was accepted to ASTI. I had been told it is a lot of work, by many people. I was conflicted between schools. I knew almost no one that was going there, except for a few people. Also, the amount of work seemed like it was enough to keep me working all night. As I soon found out, I was wrong about many things. First, I began to meet new people and make new friends. Also, I got used to the homework that was given. As the year progressed, I knew that I had made the right decision.