FREE TO DANCE

BY MARIE KONDI

My name is Marie. I'm 16, and I attend Christian Science Sunday School in Paris.

More than seven years ago, when I was in fourth grade, my knees were painful and I had bumps on both of them. My parents are not both Christian Scientists. They decided to take me to a doctor.

He diagnosed a tendon problem. He told me, "You have a choice, Marie. Either you have surgery, or you sit out the year and do no sports." I chose to give up sports and apply a cream that had been prescribed by the doctors for the pain.