"We Are the Champions" by Debra A. Clarkson
I am going to tell you how the song by Queen
called "We Are the Champions" describes my journey and obstacles in
life..
As I was growing up, I always had music in my heart. When I was nine, I
was able to learn the clarinet. I played this through high school.
Then it got to be the point in every teenagers life, were I had to decide what I
wanted to do in the future. There were three major choices, I could stay
in my hometown and support myself by getting a full time job, go into the
military, or go into college.
I chose the later. I, at eighteen, chose music as my major and the
clarinet as my major instrument. The title of my major was music
education. This was a four year degree and in my third year, I realized,
that I had tremendous stage fright and a very low self esteem to continue with
that degree, even though the music was already inside me. It is in my soul
and it will always be with me, whatever I do.
In my last year, things had started to change for me. I changed my major
to liberal arts in music. I also was engaged to be married to a guy I met
during my first year of college. I then graduated in 1992.
After graduating, I worked at a music center for selling and teaching the organ.
In 1993, my engagement was broken off by my fiancé. I did not know why,
but this is when my life started to change.
What made my life really change and do a 180 degree turn, was after one day, my
left leg went numb and I fell to the ground. Then I went to see a doctor
because I was startled at why my leg would go numb, when I was a very athletic
woman.
The doctor diagnosed me as having a benign brain tumor. After the eighteen
hour extensive surgery, I then had two strokes.
My surgery was said to be successful. My life changed considerably that
day.
I was left with many effects but many important ones were taken away from me.
Being almost 32 years old, I am not able to walk without the use of a devise, I
will never be able to drive again, the left side of my face is paralyzed, I have
a speech impediment, I have a vision impediment, and I have tremors.
Over seven years, I've had very extensive rehab. When I was in the
hospital after my surgery, I could not even move my toes and I couldn't see
because of my surgery, on the back of the neck, I was not able to turn my head,
let alone lift it up.
I then had gone to a rehabilitation center in Edison, called J.F.K. They
did a miraculous job there. They taught me how to relearn many basic
tasks. During the first two stages, which lasted nine months, I relearned
the basic activities in daily life. I relearned how to dress and groom
myself, how to eat again (I had to have someone feed me, like a 24 year old
baby, until I learned again how to feed myself.), I also exercised my muscles
and tried to find their way back to walking again. I remember I had
to start from scratch and crawl again. I felt as though, I had been reborn
into a body that just did not work anymore and I was able to rebuild my muscles,
to use an aid of a walker.
The third stage of their program was to relearn my thinking process.
Usually if people had a less traumatic head injury, they would skip the first
two stages and go right into the third.
Now after seven very hard working years of getting as much life back as I can,
when I hear the song on the radio by Queen titled "We are the
Champions", I think of everything I had to relearn and how grateful I am to
make it this far. I and my friends are the champions!
Debra A. Clarkson Deb42170@aol.com
My bio: I have graduated from Trenton State College in NJ with a B.A. in liberal
arts in music. I am currently a freelance writer with a substantial
background in writing for children. I have also completed the course for
writing for children given by The Institute of Children's Literature.
I have also taken numerous writing courses from the Barnes and Noble University
and the Writer's Village University. I also belong to the SCBWI (the
Society for Children Books Writers and Illustrators.)