There are not a lot of people in this world that I can honestly say I truly admire and respect. T-Boz Watkins is one of those people. Looking at what she has been able to achieve despite the odds is an outstanding achievement. I was trawling the internet for inspiration and I found a couple of videos, this one I broke it down.
I was privileged growing up in Nigeria. I have two parents that are medical so I rarely went into hospital (and I HATE hospitals, but lets leave that for a later post). My bedroom can still be converted to a hospital room at a moments notice. The price you pay for being privileged - you are sheltered from the realities that lie in store for you.
Yes I knew I have a chronic illness but I didn't realise how it will affect MY future. As a teenager, I didn't think about how that would affect my career, future partner, if I was going to have kids, quality of life and life expectancy.
Reality hit during a biology lesson at secondary school. We were studying the Blood types and genotypes. Obviously the topic of Sickle Cell came up and that was when my sheltered existence came crashing down around me. Knowing my status, my teacher gave me one of those old text books used to educate newly weds on the perils of Sickle Cell. *side-bar, this same teacher made me go to the staff room where she proceeded to pray for my healing - needless to say it was one of the many instances that influence my mistrust of religion*
It was a depressing read.
- Life expectancy 30 - 40 years (and that was a good thing)
- Strokes
- Swollen joints
- Kidney failure
- Loss of eye sight
- Necrosis of the hip and other major joints
- Leg ulcers
- Bone Infections
The list seemed endless. Was this what I had to look forward to? In a lot of ways the answer is yes...... but the one thing I have learnt in this life is this; how you deal with shitty situations defines you as a person.
Enter TLC.
CrazySexyCool was the first album that I really connected to, and then I found out T-Boz was a Sickler and it blew me away!!
In my world I was always told to 'take it easy', 'you aren't the same as everyone else' and then there was T-Boz who was dancing, singing and pursing her own dreams! My world involved me hiding my status (again this is worthy of its own post) and there was this individual who was shouting it from the rooftops!!!
It wasn't a solution to the problem, and trust me I still had a lot of growing up to do (still do), but it gave me the determination to NEVER let my condition get the better of me. Now I won't lie there are times when it does get you down and you do have those 'why me' moments. The key is to brush it off, remember your goals and move the fuck on! Life won't wait for you.
T-Boz Watkins showed me that. T-Boz I would like to Thank You from the bottom of my heart for you just being you.
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