First day of school. Cold classroom. Grey walls. Anxiety…
BAM!!!! I feel four five of my friends embrace me all at the same time. It was starting to feel as if it would be a weary, lonesome day, then my friends changed that for good by letting me know I mattered. And that is why I believe in the power of friendship.
My name is Megan and the reason I’m smiling is because I have friends. I believe that no matter what I’m going through, I can get through it because I have people that love me. I never knew how much friends meant until recently, when a sickness came and I desperately needed someone to lean on. I am fifteen years old and have severe abdominal problems. I have spent the last six months in and out of doctors’ offices, on various medications, having mouth ulcers from acid, and not being able to keep anything I have eaten down. It may not seem bad, but to a young girl who’s hardly ever been sick, it’s absolutely terrifying. So clearly, I need support. Not monetary, but emotional. My support system? Friends. From day one, my parents have been a shoulder to cry on, and more importantly the ones to take care of me even on my worst days. But being a teenager, sometimes you need a friend your age. I remember telling my best friend about the whole predicament, how the acid was coming from my pancreas, up my through my chest, and even creating mouth ulcers around my gums. I remember telling him about all the doctors’ visits, the hospital calls, the surgery. But what I remember the most is how he kept saying that it would all be okay, how I would just take my medicine every day, and nothing deathly harmful would come upon me. That is a hope I have clung to throughout it all. That is the hope that has kept me hoping. When I found out I would travel two hours from my hometown, walk into the Children’s Levine Hospital, and have an endoscopy (a procedure where you are put to sleep, and the surgeon inserts a small camera through your throat into your stomach), I was completely terrified. Then I heard my best friend’s voice in my head, “What are you worrying about Meg? I’ve never let someone put you in harm’s way before, you think I will now?” He always knew how to make me laugh when I was scared.
Now I know everything will be okay because no matter what happens, no matter what the doctors find, I will have friends to come home to and fall back on. I will always have people very close to me and I know without a doubt I will always have someone who loves me. I love my friends and they mean the entire world to me. Everyone deserves to witness the power of friendship.