Inspired blogging

In the vain of my last post I have recommitted myself to my blog. Not like there are thousands of people out there dying to read my every word, but for the few who care I enjoy sharing. It is a catharsis for me and hopefully learning more about each other helps us all grow a little.

Anyway, one of the blogs that I enjoy is Fat Mum Slim. She is a lovely aussie woman and I have been completing her Instagram photo-a-day prompts for a while now. Several months ago she wrote a post entitled 50 Things to Blog About. It was simply a list of 50 writing prompts for bloggers to keep the juices flowing and overcome writers blocks. I saved the page, not knowing if I would ever use it, but now I find myself in that "blocked" spot.

The first of her prompts was "1. That thing that happened in high school that pretty much changed your life forever".  Here is my story.

When I was a Junion in high school my sister got pregnant. The thing that makes this life changing is that she was one of my closest friends and she was only a Senior in high school herself. I can rememember like it was yesterday. On my Mom's birthday she told me she thought she might be preganant. So I had the fortunate job of taking her to buy a pregnancy test and sit on pins and needles for the results. At that point we both worked at a local McDonald's so she took the test in the bathroom of the place worked. We both cried when we saw two lines.

The next couple weeks were a blur of helping her tell my parents, silence then screaming and decisions.  While none of the decisions were mine to make I felt vested in each one. It was quickly decided that she would raise the baby with the help of the entire family and her (now ex) boyfriend would attempt to be a part of it. (That part fell apart, but that's another story.)

I met Genna a few hours after she was born. I wanted to be there when she was born but at only 16 no one thought I could handle it. She was pink and warm and sweet in the hospital bed. I can still close my eyes and see it. I remember spending hours there but it felt like minutes. I could still smell her as I rode home from the hospital. I got to stay home from school on the day she came home from the hospital. It was a whirlwind. A baby in the house... crazy.

Over the next few months we spoiled her rotten. I spent more time with her than any human being I have ever known. I talked to her, took her for walks and told her all my insights on life. When she got bigger she spent hours bouncing in her ducky in my room while I did homework or listened to music. It's hard to describe my relationship in words. I have never been her mother but I have always felt like more than her aunt. She has always been my "first born".

She changed my life forever in wonderful ways. And eighteen years later I guess she still does.



So, that's my first story. I tried to keep is short and sweet. More to come.