Growing Deeper Roots: My Story of Invisible Illness

Thursday I moved back into college. Although it had only been 3 months since I left, things feel immeasurably different. I feel immeasurably different. I moved into a suite style dorm with three of my best friends: Erin, Anna, and Cat. With every worried thought and dreaded moment about returning (see last post), I reminded myself of how great living with these girls will be. They (the universal 'they') tell you that you won't keep your 'freshman orientation friends,' but they haven't met these baller chicks.  Erin is everyone's pseudo mom. She will be proud of me when I'm doing well and love and console me when I'm down. I can already see her cheering me up even when she doesn't know I need it.  Anna is my school version of Kate. She can be weird and goofy with me and then turn around and give me the best advice, and hugs, a girl could ask for. She is, and always has been, great at looking out for me and I'm 98% sure that she...

Today, I went to Rose Hill Manor's World War II weekend. I love that era of history and so does one of my oldest friends, Brooke. We used to stay up and watch old 1940s movies, we took a WWII class in high school, and we've made countless Hitler memes. So today we went to the reenactment and toured the museum.  My sisters and my friend Erin work at this Museum and were dressed up to work the festival.                                       <-Look! I'm standing! While most of the park was wheelchair accessible, it was not exactly wheelchair friendly. The paths between tents and exhibits were gravel, and the chair did not move easily through it. Likewise, every park or field or yard in Frederick County is ridden with hills. Wheelchairs don't like hills. Also, the top floor of the manor house, built in the 1790s, was not accessible. (Come on 18th century architec...