I took a turn being the mom for my family. When I turned eleven, my mom endured strenuous and vexatious back problems. She grew up with scoliosis and now it was affecting her day to day life. She would come home from work and go straight to bed. She forced herself to work because she carried the insurance for my family. My little sister and I were left to fend for ourselves while our dad worked strange hours to control medical bills.
Together we endured the ups and downs of ineffectual “guess and check” procedures the doctors were prescribing. My mom finally went in for surgery. Within three years she had three neck and back surgeries. She was advised to take many addictive pain medications. She doesn’t remember how distraught times were because of the pills she was taking. Since my mom was confined to her bed, like a bird in a cage, our house became a wreck.
My dad never was the one to care for the house, so I took it on. I started cooking meals for my sister and dad. It mostly consisted of Hamburger Helper and quick dinners but I put in full effort. When we would leave the house, I picked out my mom’s clothes. When Christmas came, I put up the twelve foot tree and decorations. My dad dropped me off at the store to buy presents for the family. I found my sister coming to me for help with homework. She had always looked up to me as a sister but now it felt different. We didn’t argue nearly as much.
“You’re very mature for your age.” This was a compliment that I began to hear more often, like it was a new cool phrase everyone was saying. I was praised for being such a help but I was rewarded with life skills. I learned how to cook, do laundry, dishes, and clean. I knew the work that had to be put in when decorating a house. But to me, the most important thing that I learned was to be independent. I am self sufficient and I handle situations without stress. I know with a little perseverance, impossible becomes nothing.