Big Sister (memoir rough draft)

Jocelyn Rivas

 

There I was with my mom, sitting on the living room carpet, each of us holding a doll in our hands. We were pretending that they were going to a party together, it would be held in the dining room, although in my head it was at a much fancier place, perhaps one with a massive chandelier in the middle of the ceiling. I was an only child for seven years and whenever I played as a little kid it was almost always with my mom. I didn’t have a sibling to play with me so I constantly found that the one person entertaining me was my mom, someone four times my age. At least she made an effort to make me happy by going along with my scenarios, she appeared to have fun every time but it sometimes crossed my mind that maybe she wasn’t. What adult wants to play pretend on their free time?

 

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I was outside, jump roping with my cousin at her house when I saw the white truck. It was time. My dad was bringing me to the hospital to see my newborn sister. I had wanted a sibling for as long as I could remember.

 

We went home first, my dad was going to get clothes ready for my mom, she was getting out of the hospital in two days and she wasn’t going to leave in the hospital gown she was given. We also went home for another reason, my dad wanted me to change and look presentable. I was too excited and that wasn’t going to happen, I thought it would just slow us down and I wanted to get the the hospital as soon as possible. I just wanted to leave already. I didn’t end up changing. I went with blue jeans that fit me too big, a pink short sleeve and my hair, that was the worse part, I hadn’t even done it. My hair was all over the place, strands falling in my face almost, yet I somehow managed to keep it in a hair tie. I didn’t care about how I looked.

 

Finally, we were in the truck. I thought, how long does it really take to put a shirt and pants in a  bag for mom to change? “Did you see her? How does she look?” I kept asking questions the entire car ride, I’m surprised my dad didn’t seem to be getting sick of them, although he probably was.

 

Oh no, another stop. Flowers! How dare we show up without flowers! We went to stop and shop and my dad told me to pick out a bouquet of roses for her. I had a hard time choosing, I relied heavily on the colors they had when coming to a decision. I chose the bouquet with red and yellow roses. “Those” I told my dad.

 

We’re here, going up the elevator, and before I know it, I was pushing the white door open and saw  my mom laying on the bed. I gave her the flowers and immediately, almost urgently, ask about my sister. “She’s with the nurse,” she says. Of course she is I think. Time starts to pass by slowly and then I realize something, I haven’t really spent time with both of my parents, my dad works long shifts and by the time he usually gets home, I am asleep. Yet here we are, together at the hospital. The door opens again, the nurse walks in, pushing the baby in what to me appears to be a white bin, but is actually similar to a crib. There she is, asleep and so beautiful. She was bundled up in a white blanket that had a blue and red stripe on it. She had a hat with thick pink and purple stripes on it, with a pom pom on it. It was the beginning of July I wondered why they put a hat on her.

 

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I have two brothers and two sisters now. My youngest sibling is only eleven months. Before, the family dynamic wasn’t anywhere near as loud and crazy as it is now. Before, I would come home from school to a quiet atmosphere and now it’s completely insane. I always joke around with my mom and tell her that our house is a daycare, there’s tons of chaos and all involving kids. Everyday there are fights between them, always over something that doesn’t make sense. With so many children I find that I’m always cleaning up their messes with my mom. I’d take my madhouse over what was a ghost town any day. Although we might argue sometimes, there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for my family.