{"id":150,"date":"2019-11-05T11:54:05","date_gmt":"2019-11-05T16:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/?p=150"},"modified":"2022-12-12T15:07:49","modified_gmt":"2022-12-12T20:07:49","slug":"carpets-and-drapes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/carpets-and-drapes\/","title":{"rendered":"Carpets And Drapes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amanda Flick, United States Army<\/em><\/p>\n

I<\/span> took a deep breath as I entered the coffee shop. The line was short; Autumn, Nicole, and I slipped in behind a heavyset woman and a young man in a leather jacket, chatting while we waited.
\n\u201cOh!\u201d Autumn said suddenly. I turned my head to glance at whatever had caught my friend\u2019s attention. The barista was a handsome man. His plaid button-down did little to hide how fit he was, but what made me take a second look was his facial hair. He had a full beard, deep red in color that seemed incongruous with the dark curls atop his head.<\/p>\n

Autumn made an appreciative noise. \u201cI would take a cup of him every morning,\u201d she murmured with a lascivious smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wonder if the carpets match the drapes?\u201d Nicole\u2019s head was tilted to one side like a curious bird\u2019s, but her voice was nearly monotone. I felt my face grow hot in response to my sister\u2019s words. While comments like that weren\u2019t uncommon for her, it was unusual for me to be surprised by them. I\u2019d known her my entire life.<\/p>\n

Despite her brilliance, Nicole finds it difficult when to read between the lines and has trouble with social etiquette. Growing up, people frequently described us as being polar opposites. My hair is brown, thick, and unruly; Nicole\u2019s is blonde and mostly straight. I\u2019m taller and more tanned than she is, but I think her icy blue eyes are much more beautiful than my own boring dark ones. She\u2019s not as social as I am, preferring to sit on the sidelines with her favorite book of the week. It didn\u2019t bother me that my sister was different than me. However, what did bother me were the pointed comments others would sometimes make about her.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe something is wrong with that girl.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you ever thought about getting Nicole tested?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cMomma, I don\u2019t like her. She\u2019s weird and doesn\u2019t talk.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t just strangers, either. Even our own family members liked to say things\u2014things that would always make my mom seethe with anger. \u201cThere is nothing wrong with my daughter!\u201d she insisted. I never thought there was anything wrong with Nicole, but it was clear that she wasn\u2019t like all the other kids.<\/p>\n

It is memories like these that prompted me and Nicole to pursue degrees in psychology. All the years of what people did and said about her only made our bond stronger. We took almost every single psychology class there was, studying diligently with one another. We excelled. Not only did we seek to better understand each other, we also wanted to understand everyone else. I bought a copy of the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, better known as DSM-5, to learn even more about how certain disorders were diagnosed.<\/p>\n

I was especially grateful for this knowledge after being diagnosed with severe PTSD, short for posttraumatic stress disorder, from years of sexual abuse. I had hoped to find a way to help with the many symptoms I had; depression, suicidal thoughts, nightmares\/night terrors, anxiety, agitation, etc. I displayed almost every single symptom. I have been able to use this knowledge to help myself with the depression and the agitation, but not much more. It has instead helped me to understand others on a different level. I become much more empathic. Another valuable thing I learned was how to hide my true feelings because I feel that I must put on a strong happy front for the sake of my family. I learned how to portray myself to everyone as confident, happy, and nonchalant.<\/p>\n

These skills have also helped being that my sister recently got officially diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. This was formerly known as Asperger\u2019s. Since the recent edition, it has simply become a spectrum of high and low functioning. Nicole, during her testing, scored above genius level IQ. As I said previously, she is brilliant but she just doesn\u2019t get social aspects of life. I also find it funny how her autism mixes perfectly with my PTSD in the sense that we can function more neurotically while in public. We have achieved some of our goals by learning so much about mental processing and how the brain works while we are still in the progress of meeting other goals. Nicole is not different; she is my best friend.<\/p>\n

\"Amanda<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amanda Flick, United States Army I took a deep breath as I entered the coffee shop. The line was short; Autumn, Nicole, and I slipped in behind a heavyset woman and a young man in a leather jacket, chatting while we waited. \u201cOh!\u201d Autumn said suddenly. I turned my head to glance at whatever had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_expiration-date-status":"","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"categories":[331,328],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCarpets And Drapes - Storyforce<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Carpets And Drapes - Amanda Flick, United States Army I took a deep breath as I entered the coffee shop.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/carpets-and-drapes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Carpets And Drapes - Storyforce\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Amanda Flick, United States Army I took a deep breath as I entered the coffee shop. The line was short; Autumn, Nicole, and I slipped in behind a heavyset woman and a young man in a leather jacket, chatting while we waited. \u201cOh!\u201d Autumn said suddenly. I turned my head to glance at whatever had […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/carpets-and-drapes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Storyforce\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-05T16:54:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-12T20:07:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2019\/11\/Amanda-Flick.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"webadmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"webadmin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/carpets-and-drapes\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/carpets-and-drapes\/\",\"name\":\"Carpets And Drapes - Storyforce\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-05T16:54:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-12T20:07:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/#\/schema\/person\/d0fc9f8280f9035457a8bf0bd51a1d1c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/carpets-and-drapes\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/carpets-and-drapes\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/carpets-and-drapes\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Carpets And Drapes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/\",\"name\":\"Storyforce\",\"description\":\"veterans publication\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/#\/schema\/person\/d0fc9f8280f9035457a8bf0bd51a1d1c\",\"name\":\"webadmin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2db1a889a28d2e44508196788e48a07a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2db1a889a28d2e44508196788e48a07a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"webadmin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/author\/foundation\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Carpets And Drapes - Storyforce","description":"Carpets And Drapes - Amanda Flick, United States Army I took a deep breath as I entered the coffee shop.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/carpets-and-drapes\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Carpets And Drapes - Storyforce","og_description":"Amanda Flick, United States Army I took a deep breath as I entered the coffee shop. The line was short; Autumn, Nicole, and I slipped in behind a heavyset woman and a young man in a leather jacket, chatting while we waited. \u201cOh!\u201d Autumn said suddenly. I turned my head to glance at whatever had […]","og_url":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/carpets-and-drapes\/","og_site_name":"Storyforce","article_published_time":"2019-11-05T16:54:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-12-12T20:07:49+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2019\/11\/Amanda-Flick.jpg"}],"author":"webadmin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"webadmin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/carpets-and-drapes\/","url":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/carpets-and-drapes\/","name":"Carpets And Drapes - Storyforce","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-11-05T16:54:05+00:00","dateModified":"2022-12-12T20:07:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/#\/schema\/person\/d0fc9f8280f9035457a8bf0bd51a1d1c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/carpets-and-drapes\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/carpets-and-drapes\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/carpets-and-drapes\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Carpets And Drapes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/","name":"Storyforce","description":"veterans publication","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/#\/schema\/person\/d0fc9f8280f9035457a8bf0bd51a1d1c","name":"webadmin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2db1a889a28d2e44508196788e48a07a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2db1a889a28d2e44508196788e48a07a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"webadmin"},"url":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/author\/foundation\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":152,"href":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150\/revisions\/152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cfcc.edu\/storyforce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}