The day my little sister was finally able to feel like a child again, I assumed my main concern would be stopping her from wearing herself out. I never imagined that one of my students’ parents would try to humiliate both of us before we even reached the largest slide.
I have worked as an elementary school teacher for seven years, so I know how to keep my tone steady even when everything around me is unraveling.
Three weeks before our visit to the water park, my little sister Daisy completed her final round of chemotherapy.
She is nine.
After our parents passed away, I became her legal guardian with a pile of court documents, a bank balance that always felt too small, and a promise to keep her life feeling as normal as possible.
Daisy lost her hair long before she lost her humor. She would smile at the nurses and ask whether bald people used less shampoo, then become sick twenty minutes later and fall asleep with her fingers wrapped around mine.
