August 26th 2008. Second day of school my junior year in high school is when the journey began. My little sister Morgan (a sophomore in high school) had been in the hospital for two days. The MRI results were fast. It was a brain tumor. Surgery was scheduled for August 28th. It was a ten hour surgery. Our family was anxious. The doctors took my mother and father into a private area of the waiting room, to conclude that the tumor was cancerous. This was just the beginning.
When Morgan and I were little, I demanded attention. I wanted to be noticed more than she was. That was hard. She was the toddler with baby blue eyes, and platinum blonde hair that no one could resist. I was, well, I was your average little girl. As we grew older together our differences became more clear. Morgan was the girl, who did not need all the attention, and she loved silently cruising around, not everyone needed to notice her. I was the opposite. She was the smart ornery girl, and I was the smart sweet girl. Etc, etc. When cancer came into the picture it switched everything around.
During the fall of my junior year, I would come home to an empty house. Dad at work, Mom and sister at the hospital. And, occasionally someone would drop dinner by at the door. This was the life I was getting used to. It sucked.
I hardly ever got to see my sister during the fall. I had soccer for high school everyday until 6 or later. So I had no idea what she was going through all day. I just wanted my family back. I wanted a little attention.
Being alone for just those few weeks really had an effect on me. I felt bitter. I felt like I didn’t care. I never had the time to see my sister. And, let alone see my family, together. I started becoming more ornery in my sisters place. I missed her”meanness” around the house. And, she became more nice. “Please”, and “thank you” were in almost every sentence. It bothered me in the beginning. This isn’t my sister I would think to myself. But, it was, and cancer was changing a lot of things that I didn’t want to change. And, I couldn’t do anything about it.