Compassion

When I look at my cousin Pierre, I am reminded of who I was in seventh grade. He is always in trouble and he doesn’t really talk to his family. “Sharon, I don’t know what to do anymore. He don’t listen to nobody.” says his older brother. “Don’t give up on him. That’s the worst thing you can do, especially when he needs you the most,” I reply.
Everybody changes when they start their first year at junior high. I remember during my seventh grade year, all I wanted was friends who made me feel special. Everyone deserves friends who make them feel like they’re on top of the world. Unfortunately, I didn’t have friends like that. I had friends who treated me like trash.
I hung out with people who didn’t care about me. They always lied to me and took advantage of me, and yet, I thought they were my real friends. At times when I was with them, I’d ask myself, ‘Why am I here?’ or ‘Why do this to myself?’ Finally, after holding everything in for so long, I decided to tell my sister everything. I really wanted someone to talk to.
I’ve never been really close with my whole family, but I could always count on my sister Stephanie. She knew I didn’t really like my friends, but I made it seem like it wasn’t a big deal. One night, I told her how I felt about my so-called friends and about myself. I started crying so much that she couldn’t even understand what I was saying. She made me calm down after a while. “I’ve done terrible things,” I whispered. “But it doesn’t mean you’re a terrible person,” she said. That one night changed my life. Little by little, she started giving me advice on being myself. It helped me so much.
Eventually, I pretty much ditched all my friends. Sometimes I wish I would’ve told them how they made me feel. They hurt me in ways I’ll probably never get over but I think I was right to go. To this day, I still have a really close relationship with my sister Stephanie. I owe her my life. Every time I tell her how I truly feel about anything, I feel better afterwards. She’s like an angel and I’m so thankful to have someone so amazing in my life. Now, I have a couple of really close friends that I love and can trust. I never do anything that I’m not comfortable with and I’ve learned how to be honest to myself and to others. I don’t care what people think about me and I have to say it is one of the greatest mental freedoms. All of this is because of my sister, my hero Stephanie.

Submitted by Anonymous

Compassion