My Civil War

     This is my guard. Guard has become one of my passions if I'm not at guard practice then I'm thinking about guard, if I'm not in guard then I'm sitting next to someone else who is in guard, and if I'm not with the entire guard I'm with some of my best friends who are in guard. Guard has become a part of me, something everybody knows about me. Something I have to deal with when it comes to blood sugars every day. The nurse knows that between 4th and 5th period there's an 80% possibility I will be up to ask her a question as to how many carbs she thinks I need in order to make it through a class, and my instructors know if I'm sitting out there's an 80% chance I can't see out of my left eye. Guard is slowly coming part of the routine when it comes to managing my health.
     This year our guard show is called Civil War. Our song is by Guns and Roses and it's slowly becoming stuck in my head and replaying every minute. Well, when we first started peforming we were never "telling a story" to our audience. Then our guard instructors said "think about what your civil war is whether it's your parents telling you to do your chores, or your teachers not teaching anything." We were supposed to tell our stories in our body language and facial expressions. It took me a while to figure out what my civil war was and it came to me one day when I was sitting out with a blood sugar of 46 trying to regain feeling in my legs. My civil war is trying to manage my health and my blood sugar while staying a kid and doing the things I love. And for many of us I think this is our civil war. Some may show it more than others, and others may show it all the time, but this is our civil war and this is something we must all live with and manage. I hope you all find an outlet to take your anger out on instead of keeping your civil war story to yourself. We all fight in this civil war with blood sugars. And I encourage you to never stop fighting.

Keep your head up and keep fighting,
Ellie <3