Meredith's Triumph , livre ebook

Inspiring Voices

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

56 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

Meredith, a high schooler, struggled with obesity her entire life. She experienced misery and bullying for years. Through one conversation with her dad, she learned about food addiction, and the 12-Step Program, Overeaters Anonymous. This is her story.

Informations

Publié par	Inspiring Voices
Date de parution	28 janvier 2021
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781462413270
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0200€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Meredith’s Triumph

Theresa Corbley Siller

Copyright © 2021 Theresa Corbley Siller.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Inspiring Voices
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.inspiringvoices.com
844-686-9605

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Illustrated by Robin Roraback

ISBN: 978-1-4624-1326-3 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4624-1327-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021901345

Inspiring Voices rev. date: 01/28/2021
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1 Struggling For Control
Chapter 2 An Attempt
Chapter 3 The Grapefruit Diet
Chapter 4 Meredith Finally Speaks Up
Chapter 5 Mashed Potatoes, Tragedy, and a Diet Fail
Chapter 6 Saying Goodbye
Chapter 7 Coolest Therapist Ever
Chapter 8 Le Canard
Chapter 9 Overeaters Anonymous
Chapter 10 Uh-Oh, Baldo
Chapter 11 Double Dates and a Doggie
Chapter 12 Christmas Day Failure
Chapter 13 More Recovery, and a… 10K?
Chapter 14 Triumph and a Bestseller
PROLOGUE
M eredith Bingamton wondered if she looked chubby compared to the other kids. She loved her new daisy bathing suit with matching flip flops, and waited for her best friend Trinity Clearwater’s pool party to start. Cardinal Hill, in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Vienna, Virginia, was a popular swim/racquet club. Trinity and Sylvie were fraternal twins turning ten, and they wore cute, matching rainbow swimsuits on their slim, athletic bodies. Their mom and dad assisted the present-opening. As the chlorine and sunblock smells permeated the air and the warm cement was cozy under her feet, Meredith wondered what it would be like to be a twin with two parents instead of an only child whose dad left when she was three.
She remained seated at the picnic table for seconds and maybe thirds of yummy chocolate cake and creamy moose tracks, while watching all the others push their plates away and line up for the slide. She wondered why all the partygoers had so soon lost interest in the delicious treats.
“Wow, you’re being really piggy, Meredith,” Sylvie shouted as she climbed up the slide.
Meredith frowned, stung. She considered the thoughtful gift she had brought Sylvie, and in that moment, wished she could take it back home. Her favorite twin was definitely Trinity. Meredith quickly threw her plate away and sat on the side of the pool to digest, too full to go down the slide yet.
Taking off her daisy shoes, she placed them next to her, making sure they were perfectly lined up, so she could relax. It took three tries. One of the daisies had too many petals, and she wondered why that bothered her so much. She just couldn’t bear to look at it. As she dangled her legs in the water, a feeling of loneliness overtook her.
Trinity came out of the bathroom and sat next to Meredith. “Are you having fun? You look a little sad.”
“Thanks. I’m alright. Happy Birthday, BFF.” The girls hugged.

CHAPTER 1 Struggling For Control
F ive years later as a teenager hanging out on the patio at Trinity’s house, Meredith had a flash of terror that the smallish, rickety chair might not hold her. She made the fateful decision to try it anyway. She felt totally powerless as she crashed down. With her rotund butt on the ground and broken pieces of chair lying next to her, she had the fleeting thought that this must be what people refer to as rock bottom. And no, the pun was not intended.
“Oh my God I am so sorry, Trin!” Meredith lined up all the broken pieces in an orderly way. After rearranging them a few times to line up more perfectly, she gave up and had to leave them. “I promise my mom will replace the chair!” Meredith wished for a trap door to escape, as her eyes filled.
Meredith spotted Trinity’s twin, Sylvie, abruptly stop practicing her volleyball in the backyard, put her hands on her hips, and scowl. She came over and eyed the chair’s broken pieces and Meredith sitting on the ground. Then she shook her head and wandered inside, saying nothing. Nothing at all. Meredith sensed Sylvie’s disgust viscerally, having never felt more mortified in her life.
“No big deal, Mer!” Trinity was quick to console. “It was a dumb old chair anyway. We’ve needed new patio furniture for a while. You actually helped us. Now Mom can be motivated to get it sooner.” Trinity was always her biggest champion, and Meredith quickly thanked God for true- blue best friends. They sat on the outdoor porch swing instead and appreciated the scenery of reds and golds on the autumn trees in the Clearwater’s backyard.
“Didn’t we used to have fun climbing those?” Trinity said. “Good times, good times.”
“Oh my gosh, how could I ever forget breaking my arm falling out of that one?” Meredith pointed and shuddered. “I should have never stepped on that short, nubby branch. That was wishful thinking. Stupid, stupid. Your mom was so sweet, offering me a pillow.”
“That scene is tattooed on my mind, girl. You lying on the ground moaning. I cried while you were crying. At least your pink cast was cool.”
“Yes! My favorite choice of color! And when I got home from the ER, you and your mom surprised me with a teddy bear and get-well balloons on our porch. I just love you, Trin. Always have, always will.”
“Me, too, BFF. It’s us against the world.”
Meredith got home and showered after dinner. She had to lift up her stomach folds to wash underneath. She hated her huge, shapeless arms. Her thunder thighs always chafed, to the point of causing rashes. Shower time was always a stark reckoning that being this heavy was a big problem. She hastily wrapped herself in a towel. She always took great care not to look at her naked body too long, in the mirror. And she had to step out of, and back into, the shower five times before getting out for good. She just couldn’t relax unless she performed this ritual. Great, she thought. I’m way too fat and OCD, too. What a freak.
At around 11 P.M. that night, her homework was finally done, yay. Sophomore year was definitely rougher than freshman. Meredith knew just what would chase those Sunday night blues away, and reached under the bed for her secret stash, choosing denial now, about her earlier shower shame. After gobbling up the first Snickers Bar, she heard a knock. She frantically brushed the nougat and bits of chocolate from her chest. She stuffed the bags of potato chips and chocolate chip cookies back under the bed and tried to quickly finish chewing, wiping the back of her hand across her mouth. She was frustrated that her favorite numbing time was being interrupted.
“What’s up, Mom?”
“Hi. Didn’t you say you needed me to sign a permission slip for something?”
Meredith felt guilt at her previous irritation.
“Thank you for remembering, yes. It’s actually due tomorrow for the French Club dinner outing to Le Canard, a.k.a. The Duck, next month. We are supposed to greet the server and say our entire order in French. It’ll be cool.” She dug in her backpack. “Here.”
“Oooh, yummy and challenging, wow. OK sweetie, I’ll leave it on the table at your spot so you can grab it tomorrow when you leave for school.”
“Thanks Mom. Goodnight.”
“You’re welcome. Love you.”
At this point Meredith had a decision. Resume her disrupted, blissful binge, or brush her teeth and call it a night? She hated the early-morning food-hangover before leaving for school, hated her pants feeling extra tight-didn’t she just get new ones, two sizes bigger? Ugh. She was so sick of this constant dance she wanted to scream. She felt the creeping self-loathing, like a fog, begin to thicken and smother her. It seemed anymore that food was her temporary medicine, then later her poison. She wondered why. She thought of other in-shape girls at her high school who could eat pizza and French fries, cookies and ice cream occasionally, with no repercussions. Why couldn’t she just have a little, like them? Why was it so hard to stop, once she started? And, that broken chair at Trinity’s. She’d nearly died.
She was gargling mouthwash and scrubbing her face when she studied her double chin. It bummed her out, as she’d never battled the acne so many of her school acquaintances had. Her skin was clear and nice, but her face was just too big. She hated it. She loved her eyes though; they were her best feature. Light brown, almost gold, and people had complimented them since she was little. Her dark blond hair needed some attention, though. Maybe she could ask her mom for a salon appointment.
Maybe tomorrow night she could try not to binge? Start on a new diet? Could she ever have a life that wasn’t fat? She finished her P.M. care and got settled into bed. She heard the creak of her mattress under her weight.