“Your sister had a baby”
were the first words that came out of my dad’s mouth
Silence.
I didn’t know what to say
Speechless,
no words could come out of my mouth
It was as if I had fallen into a dream
We spend so much together, day and night
And we never noticed
She had a life growing inside of her these whole past 9 months
We were not given any time to prepare for this blessing
It was time to meet Damian Xavier
Entering the baby floor to meet my first nephew felt surreal
I saw my sister sitting down on the hospital bed,
Carrying him on her arms
surrounded by a bunch of people
Overwhelmed in emotions to say anything
Tears running down my cheeks
Tears that represented my joy
Speechless, no words could come out of my mouth
It was as if I had aphasia for a long minute
There was a lot of emotions going on
Too much to take in
I could only imagine how my sister felt…
I walked out of the room before I could say anything,
There was so much going on that I couldn’t take reality in
Took deep breaths, to heal the anxiety
Everything felt so surreal
It felt as if I was dreaming
So many things running through my head
But somehow not knowing how to act
My sister that I had finally created a close bond with had just become a mother
I did not want to lose that bond with my only sister
I was scared that our relationship would change
… and I was right
Our relationship and lives have completely changed
I could not believe we grew closer
Damian Xavier is the joy of our lives
Change is good
I can no longer imagine our lives without my nephew
Wow! I love how beautiful you express about your nephew! And the story… it’s just wow! I remember you told me and I thought you were joking. I couldn’t believe it! I think that your sister’s story is so unique and so cool because she didn’t even know. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Dear Liz,
I was really surprised about your memoir and how your parents and you knew about your sisters pregnancy. I thought that it was really interesting how both you and your family knew about her pregnancy. One sentence you wrote that stands out for me was, “She had a life growing inside of her these whole past 9 months, We were not given any time to prepare for this blessing, It was time to meet Damian Xavier.” I think this was true because a bay is always a blessing and more because he was family to you, that should always be the most important thing when someone is going to be born. I thought that it was nice how you said it was time to meet him as well. Another sentence that I liked was, “Our relationship and lives have completely changed, I could not believe we grew closer, Damian Xavier is the joy of our lives, Change is good.” This was really good because your relationship now with your sister and your nephew must be really strong since you. I agree with you that your relationship with your sister had to bring you guys even closer because you now had a nephew, a new family member.
Thanks for your writing. I look forward to seeing what you write next, because I really enjoyed this memoir of yours.
Dear Liz,
I am amazed! I really loved reading the story about your nephew. I can see how much love you have for your nephew. While reading the story about your nephew so many thoughts were going through my head. I couldn’t believe that your family didn’t know that your sister was preagant all along. I liked how your story is very detailed I was able to picture what was going on in my head. Keep up the good work !
Dear Liz,
Wow! I’m amazed by your story. It’s crazy because I can totally relate to it. Similarly to your family not knowing about your sister’s pregnancy, my mom and I didn’t know anything about my cousin’s pregnancy. She grew up with me so she was like my older sister. We found out the day she was going to give birth. It was really surprising and I was only 6, so I also felt like our relationship was going to change. I’m glad you shared this story because I didn’t know of others who had been through the same story. Looking forward to more of your writing.
-Yahaira