When people ask me, what was my best summer, my answer would be the summer of 1988, when I was just one year old. Some people would be curious as to why I would pick a summer when I was so young and can barely remember it. However, something happened that summer that would drastically change my life forever. I was granted a miracle.
Let me tell you my story. I was born on June 11, 1987. From birth, I developed seizures. My parents started doing substantial re-search and asked several doctors for advice. They were about out of options when they discovered the Ketogenic Diet.
On August 17, 1988, I was put on the Ketogenic Diet, and they stopped the seizures. This date is a very historic day for me because that was my very last seizure. I am now 33 years old, which means this August will be 32 years since my last seizure. That historic moment helped me to embark on a journey that many people view as a success story.
When I started the Ketogenic Diet, my doctor told my parents it would be unlikely that I would go to college. I was placed in Preschool Handicapped at two years old. I would at-tend various Special Education schools until the age of 19. In 2006, at the age of 19, I was main streamed into Northern Valley Regional High School as a junior. Two years later, in 2008, I graduated from Northern Valley Old Tappan High School. My remarkable journey would only continue from there.
That fall, I would go somewhere that when I was a baby, nobody thought was possible. I would start college at Dominican College in Blauvelt New York. Four years later, in May 2012, I became a college graduate with a BA in English. I graduated with a 3.4 GPA.
In November 2016, my parents and I embarked on a journey, leaving Harrington Park New Jersey, where we lived for 22 years and moved to Leland, North Carolina. In 2019, I became the newsletter writer at a local business Kinder stop Flexible Drop- In Child Care. In 2019, I also joined the Next Chapter Book Club, a book club for disabled adults. The founder Tom Fish, a re-tired professor from Ohio State, took me under his wings, having me read and edit several short stories he wrote. I also wrote a short story my-self. My dream is to become a professional writer.
It is remarkable to think back on this fantastic journey my life has been and how far I have come. Without that miracle of the Keto-genic Diet stopping my seizures, who knows what my life would be like today or if I would even be alive. That is why my best summer is the summer of 1988. It saved my life.
I believe my story is a story to be told. I can be a role model for those out there going through a similar situation that I have experienced. Al-ways have faith that you can make it through. Follow your dreams be-cause your dreams will take you very far.
