speech contest translation.

This is a speech contest entry that I translated last August:

“It’s urgent Miss Watanabe. You need an operation right away.” When the doctor said these words, I felt like the world stopped.

Last summer, I went to the surgery ward for the first time in my life because I wanted to have a lump in my breast checked. The nurse drew my blood and took some X-rays. When the results came back, I was shocked. The lump was a tumor, and I needed an operation to get rid of it.
On that day, I didn’t feel like talking with anyone. I felt terribly depressed and all I did was just lie in bed. I couldn’t believe the doctor’s words. From the time I was admitted until the surgery, I was overwhelmed with regret, anxiety and countless questions.
“If I’d known this would happen, I would have taken better care of myself.”
“I should have come to the hospital earlier.” I told myself.
“…and general anesthesia! If I catch a cold, I could die!”
“Why should such a terrible thing happen to me?” I asked myself.

In that depressed state, my friends were the one who cheered me up the most. They sent me a letter that told me what was going on in our school. Some of my friends visited to encourage me.
“Are you OK?” they asked.
“I’m sure that you’ll be able to come back to school soon.”
“Are you worrying about the lessons you missed? I’m not such a good note-taker, but you can use mine.” they told me.

For the first time in my life, I wished I could be in class. I wanted to see my friends; I really wanted to go to school!

Then I came to realize something: how wonderful it is that I can live an ordinary, healthy life. Good health can’t be taken for granted. It’s terribly fragile.

That’s why I want to live for today, every day, without regret.