My sister is one year old
She has our mother
And a father separate from mine
Caos, screaming, and violence
My mother leaves
My sister is four years old
Our mother takes her to the mall
To get orange Julius
They have a tiny kitty pool
In the backyard
Of our mother’s small townhouse
My sister is six years old
Our mother gets married
To a man who would later die
Taking nothing but horrible memories with him
My sister is seven years old
I am born and she loves me
She holds me in her small arms
And knows that she has to protect me
Because if she doesn’t no one else will
If she doesn’t love me more than our mother does
Then I will never truly know kindness and love
That I would never have known how it feels to be held and loved with the force that no mother could give
My sister is twelve years old
My father dies
Not much else to say
Tragedy follows suit
Our mother spirals out of control
My strong sister takes again the role of a parent
To both my mother and I
Who thought she could take care of herself
My sister is fourteen years old
My mother remarries
To a man, she barely knows
Who screams and throws things
Who made us feel less because we stood our ground
My sister is sixteen
She is suicidal and feels there's nothing else to live for
Except for me
My sister is seventeen
She leaves to prepare her life for me
My sister is twenty-three
She accepts me into her home
When I am fifteen
And we have never been so happy