A friend of mine from college died when we were in our early 20’s. She died. Her young life was cut short. She missed out on families, careers, husbands, accomplishments, joys in life. And Why? Why?
Because my friend had an obsession, an obsession to be thinner, to not eat, to not nourish her body, her life, to be rail thin. She was obsessed.
My friend died from heart failure caused by anorexia. Her heart could not handle the stress and it just quit working. Just like that she was dead, gone. She was 24.
Many of my friends and sorority sisters struggled with eating disorders. I went to college in the early 80’s. It was happening then. It happens now.
One of my sorority sisters would binge and then throw up in the shower. Nobody else would ever take a shower in that stall. Another would immediately go and purge after supposedly enjoying a meal at a restaurant. They all denied the problem but we all knew. Another would starve herself, eat nothing for days and days and then eat an entire large jar of peanut butter, a large bottle of honey and an entire loaf of bread in one sitting. But her fear of fat was too strong and she would then purge the entire thing.
I guess my question is….Why? Why does this happen? Why don’t girls nurture and nourish their bodies and their lives? I suppose it happens with boys too, an equal opportunity disorder and all that. But why? and then the bigger question–How can we prevent it? How can we teach our young daughters and sons to eat, nourish and nurture their lives?
Life is a wonderful gift and I have found that it really does get better as I get older. Sure I want to be lean and beautiful but more than that I want to be healthy. Life is too good!
