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The entire high school watched as the six top artists painted against the clock.Each painter began his or her picture on a large canvas and painted for five minutes at which time the canvases were rotated to the left.The easels stood in a circle so that every part of the audience could see somebody working on their masterpiece.It was electric.

When I look back at the photos of that event I still can't believe that one of those artists was me.My world stood still for that hour and then began to spin out of control with new found joy.I who had been a sad ,lonely misfit became a high school celebrity over night.No one knew that a true friend gave me that chance at the expense of their own happiness.

Jeffrey Wilson and his twin sister Cloe had been my friends since the first grade.That was back before I got scoliosis and turned inward away from unkind eyes.Both of them were amazing artists who always beat me out of the two top prizes in every competition.I would wind up in third place most of the time.They didn't understand why I quit visiting after I was diagnosed with scoliosis but I had a very important reason.I had a big crush on Jeff but I just wanted to hide from him after my spine twisted.

He was so handsome with his Nordic good looks and bright blue eyes,I just couldn't bear being around them anymore.My art teacher,Mr.Spencer felt my pain.He was a sensitive and kind man who tried to nurture my talent and help me overcome some of my shyness.When each person had to sit on a chair atop a table in portrait class,Spencer sent me to the library to do research on famous artists.He entered my work in scholastic contests and tried to help anyway he could.

So when the art department was to put on the senior assembly he came to me to discuss it.

"I know you will be uncomfortable in front of hundreds of kids but I want you to think about it.You are cheating yourself out of the best year of your life.It's your heart and your talent that matter now,not the fact that you have a back problem.You are the same girl you have always been."

I smiled and thanked him but he was wrong.I was not the same girl I had always been.That girl had become twisted inside and out by a malady that nobody even understood back then.At "All Children's Hospital" in Florida,I had been given three choices;I could wear a body cast for a year.I could have a steel rod put in my spine.Or I could do nothing and endure a lifetime of pain.I was in a turmoil because my parents left the decision up to me.

I opted

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