My sister’s name is Ty’lar. She was born on January 15, 2015. Years before, I never even thought about having a little sister. It was just me, my mom, my dog, and the one thing I loved a lot, Elmo. I suppose my mom wanted to follow up on the thing she learned: “Don’t ever have one child because it leaves them to be lonely.” My mom made sure my little sister’s name started with the letter T because our names are Teagan & Talana. Once my sister Ty’Lar was born, we had a lot of fun. The happiness I had, words couldn’t even explain.
We have many photos and memories together from our childhood. I really wouldn’t know where to start. I don’t even think I have a favorite moment with my little sister because even the smallest laughs are the best. My mom always instilled in me that we are a team. She helps me, and I help my sister. I didn’t just learn these things on my own, but from my mom because she has sisters, and as the oldest, she has the best point of view as a big sister, which has instilled in me the desire to do anything to protect my sister. Growing up, my sister and I did everything together because we were the only two children in our family. We were all we had.
My mom even had us in matching outfits for every holiday you could even think of. As soon as I hit double digits in age, everything started to go downhill. What I mean by ‘downhill’ is that we argued more than we had fun and disagreed on things we should’ve agreed on. Those matching outfits my mom bought us, I got sick of them, but my little sister still wanted to match and wear them, no matter how much I disliked them. However, that was when she was about five or six years old. My little sister is now 10 years old. I sometimes wonder how fast time goes. My sister’s personality has changed in ways I didn’t even know they could.
She has an attitude that drives me up the wall, and she wants to argue about the most minor things. I guess that just comes with having a sister, but the hard part about it is that now she doesn’t want any kind of help. My sister and I are five years apart, so no matter how close in age we are, I will always be the older sibling. As I grew older, I viewed my little sister as someone I had to care for and teach her things my mom didn’t always say, like I saw her more as someone I needed to protect than someone I had to play with. I feel like I need to teach her those things because my mom may tell her about her hygiene, growing up, how to get dressed, taking care of yourself and acting ladylike, but on the other hand she is getting older and is going to make new friends, wanting to try new things that my mom may not understand, so I think that’s where I step in.
Additionally, because some of the things she may do wrong, I have done most of those things before, so I now know the correct ways to handle the situations she encounters at her age and the incorrect ways to handle them. Either way, I always want her to handle it the right way. Even if she is faulty in some situations, I still want her to have the courage to admit when she is wrong, because when I was her age, I didn’t.
As I see some things she does that are not good for her, I speak up and try to tell her why she shouldn’t do this or that, but it seems as if she doesn’t want the advice. I suppose she may not take the advice as seriously because of the tone of voice I use or the way I present it. That is the reason I am writing this tribute: because I want my little sister to know that no matter how I may say something to her, I am always saying it because I love her. I say all this to say I want to teach my sister the most because I want her to be better than I was when I became of age. In this world, people will see something on your back, your hair, and even your face, and not even have the kindness in them to tell you where it is or how to get it off of you. Maybe they just think it’s not their problem, but my little sister is the nicest person you would know, and she doesn’t understand how cruel the world can be. I want to be the best sister I can be because if I don’t, then who will? It seems that as we grow older, we become more stubborn, thinking we can do everything on our own. Despite telling my little sister these things and explaining how cruel the world may be, I have to change how I talk to her so she won’t view me as the world. Meaning I will change my tone of voice and use more compassionate words. Being a big sister has taught me that I vow to teach my little sister before the world has a chance to.
Teagan McPherson – Chicago Hope Academy – DMSF Class of 2029
Photo Credit: Teagan McPherson