«Dear Sally... you should probably be sitting down for this. First of all, everything was perfectly fine. I mean, you know, on paper. High school was going exactly as it was suppose to. I mean, in three months, I'd be at Stanford pre-med; then in four years in Stanford med school. Then I'd start my four year residency at one of the Stanford hospitals. My dad was thrilled. You know, because he's basically had my life planned out for me since I was pretty much a zygote.
I was surrounded by people. Actually looking forward to their lives. My parents reaction was typically understated.»
They say crash victims — people who lose a limb — that they can still feel their missing arm or leg, even after it's gone. It's called phantom pain, right? Well, suddenly, I had this horrible thought. What if high school went away but the feeling of it didn't? I mean I didn't feel joy... or sorrow... or anticipation. Things were going so well, but all I could feel was.... was dread.
It's funny, sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can pretty much change your life forever.
