Homecoming on Crutches

Going to a school dance on crutches is just everyone’s dream, right? Well, I got to live out that dream my freshman year of highschool. I had my date, my picture session scheduled, dinner plans made, I was ready. Until the day I wasn’t. That day changed everything. All of the sudden things were different. I wasn’t prepared, and neither was anyone else.

So, let’s start those few days before what was supposed to be “The best day of freshman year.” I was at cross­country practice and I had just gotten done with my workout, so I was stretching. I went to stand up to get some water, when all of the sudden I couldn’t put any weight on my foot. Great. Luckily, I had wonderful teammates who helped me over to the barn so I could get some water. I texted my mom and told her I could not put any, and I mean no, weight on my foot. My coach, had told me to go up to the training room and get some ice. So, I was carried about a quarter of a mile to the training room. Once there, my teammates helped get me ice, and my mom had said she was on her way. So, I texted my coach to let him know I was leaving, he said “I hope everything is okay.” I went to Urgent Care, they took x­ray’s thinking it may be a stress fracture. X­ray came back normal, so they just gave me crutches. “Right before the dance… great. Now what am I going to do,” I thought. I had no idea how I was supposed to go to the dance, have a good time, or even have pictures taken. This was just the start of my frustration.

?The next day my sisters, mother, and I went to go get shoes for the dance, thank gosh that we didn’t go before, I would have gotten heels. When we got to the shoe store, and started looking, my eyes went straight to the heels, but there was no way that was going to happen. So, we kept looking, and looking, and looking, and let me tell you, shoe shopping on crutches is not fun at all! But, we did it! We finally found a pair that not only went with my dress, but also were comfortable enough to wear to the dance. Yes, they hurt a lot, but they were my best option, what else was I supposed to do?
I put on the dress, and then the shoes. It was time to go get pictures. As we got to the house where we were taking pictures, I got excited. I mean homecoming with my best friends! Who wouldn’t be excited about that. The picture taking was very weird. The taking the photos was fun, but not as fun as if I wouldn’t had been on crutches. I tried to keep my crutches out of the photos, because well I was ashamed/frustrated with them. I did not understand why I had to go on crutches just days before the dance. Why me? I still to this day do not understand. After pictures, we all got in the car to head to dinner.

Dinner was interesting still getting used to the crutches and finding somewhere to put them at the table. They didn’t really fit anywhere, and where they did, it was an odd fit. The food was good, but the looks I was getting were not so great. I mean who goes to homecoming on crutches. The looks were more of disapproval than anything else. How is that fair, all I wanted was to have a good time, but by the time we left, I thought, I was getting a sense maybe that wouldn’t happen. So, we proceeded to the dance, no one knowing how I truly felt.

At the dance, I tried to stay up on my feet. The shoes, those were irritating me already, but I kept them on. I danced a little at the beginning, but my date kept leaving to go dance with his cousins. So, I stayed by my friends. The dancing was okay, but very awkward. The crutches made it very difficult to do what normal people do at homecoming. Dance. So, I sat most of the night, and then when I wasn’t I was attempting to dance, on one foot. The level of difficulty that proves to have is immense. Luckily, I have wonderful friends who would help me move away from my crutches, so I could dance with them. My crutches, I think had more fun than me. People had so much fun using my crutches messing around with them, and just having fun. I on the other hand, was struggling. I would jump around a little bit, but then I would either stand, or just go sit. Sitting most of the time made me upset. I wanted to be out on the dance floor with everyone else, but that did not happen.

Although being on crutches made the dance difficult, and very hard to enjoy, I had fun. The shoes, although painful, worked. Pictures were a success, dinner was good, and the dancing, well I danced a little. Through having to experience homecoming on crutches, I have learned that you can really do anything. Yes, I agree it was very unfair for me to be put on crutches just days before the dance, but I got through it, you can too. Honestly, if you really want to enjoy something and you are on crutches, so what. You can have fun too! You may get as frustrated at me, or you may not. Just try and enjoy the time you have, it will all be worth it in the long run. I still to this day look back and wish I would have danced more, and just realized what I have missed out on.