It All Worked Out

Near the end of my 14th year on the planet I was really struggling in school. I was never a brilliant student. Being on the young end of my peers and having an unstable home didn’t help that situation, but I just couldn’t get the energy I needed to make it through the day. Me....the energizer bunny....couldn’t manage to get out of bed. I started skipping school and staying home. Looking back, it could have been construed as depression, a rather serious one but I hid it as best I could with fake notes and phone calls to the school. I was ashamed at my lack of gumption but I just couldn’t do it 

Then one day, while having dinner at the sizzler (a rare treat paid for by my favorite auntie) my aunt commented that my eyes looked yellow. My older sister, who had just received her nursing certificate, looked and concurred that they were indeed a rather deep shade of yellow. They got me to the doctor and, lo and behold, I had a raging case of hepatitis A. I had all the symptoms. By the time I was diagnosed I was pretty darn sick and infectious. 

The treatment...........rest. I missed the end of my school year and started the next year in a new school district where I knew no one. It took quite awhile to recover and that certainly didn’t help my studies. By the time I was sixteen, I was so behind in school I couldn’t see anyway through. Mom was overwhelmed and not able to make ends meet. I do not remember her putting up any kind of fight when I decided to drop out of school and get a job. None at all. I think the fight had been taken out of her. She was tired.

Things have worked out for me. I have managed to make a good living with only my GED and quite a few college courses under my belt. Life has been a great classroom. 

Comments

  1. Margaret (Peggy or Peg too)March 12, 2021 at 7:29 AM

    "Life has been a great classroom"
    AMEN.

    ReplyDelete
  2. anne marie in phillyMarch 12, 2021 at 7:39 AM

    you have progressed well, grasshopper. most things in life cannot be taught in a classroom or a book. many of my high school and college classes were a waste of time. real world experience is a great learning tool!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Marie SmithMarch 12, 2021 at 8:03 AM

    It was good the hepatitis was discovered when it was.

    You did so well, Linda! You have much to be proud of. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Debra She Who SeeksMarch 12, 2021 at 9:57 AM

    Good thing your Auntie was an observant woman! Yes, Life is the real classroom for us all, isn't it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. My life so farMarch 13, 2021 at 3:15 AM

    Yes, I agree with Debra.

    ReplyDelete
  6. BillMarch 13, 2021 at 11:12 AM

    A rough start but look where you are. Well done, Linda!
    We're all still learning in the world's classroom.

    ReplyDelete
  7. SabineMarch 13, 2021 at 1:14 PM

    Wow, a hard lesson but glad to read it worked out.

    ReplyDelete
  8. JenniferMarch 14, 2021 at 6:17 AM

    I think that sometimes those of us with difficult childhoods turn out much more resilient and resourceful than we would have been otherwise. Provided, of course, that we don't fall into the same traps as those who raised us.

    Good for you for making a good life for yourself!

    ReplyDelete

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