I love my dad dearly, but every summer when I've gone to visit him, it seems like something's gone wrong. I've gotten sick or been stung by a bee—something. It's not just that these problems are unpleasant. What bugs me is that they make me feel pressured to prove that Christian Science works. My dad and stepmom aren't Christian Scientists, and sometimes it's hard feeling like I'm all alone with a problem to deal with.
This summer's visit didn't seem to be any different. I'd just returned from an awesome two weeks at a camp in Missouri. I was feeling good about the friends I'd made and the closeness I'd been feeling to God. But when I got to Oregon, where my dad lives, I started feeling lonely almost right away. I've got lots of friends back in Massachusetts where I live for most of the year, but in Oregon I only know a few people. To make matters worse, one day I started feeling uncomfortable, and when I told my stepmom about the symptoms, she said I had a yeast infection and that it would take a month to go away.
I thought about calling my mom, who is a Christian Science practitioner, to give me help through prayer, but it seemed awkward—like I was choosing my mom's way over my dad's or something. And my dad and stepmom did try to help in their own way. But I knew I wanted to use Christian Science in the end, so for the time being, I just resigned myself to the problem.
