The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian #2

"It makes me feel like I've had to grow up really fast, too fast, and that I've come to realize that every single moment of my life is important. And that every choice I make is important." This goes through my head at least once a day. I live in a household with three younger sisters, and two of them aren't even old enough to take care of themselves quite yet. I was an independent child. I didn't need anyone else to entertain myself, and I always had my sister, Julie, who is only one and a half years younger than me, to accompany me when I wanted to play with toys or bike ride around the neighborhood. But I never had to raise her, she was quite independent herself. We both were obedient kids who never really bothered mom and dad, we didn't need to, we knew how to take care of ourselves pretty early on. But after mom and dad split up, I had to learn that life wasn't easy. After a bit of time my mom had my little sister Angie, who is a huge handful. She craves attention which is something I had never been asked for. I was only nine, and I had to learn to take care of a whole other life. One that barely knew the reality of the world. Heck I didn't even know the truth about the world around me, and how hard I would have to work to take care of her and myself. Me and Julie both had to watch Angie and take care of her after school so that mom and stepdad could work and make dinner. This was only the beginning of the responsibilities which were placed on me at a young age. Not too long after Angie, Veda came into the world. So me and Julie had to take care of two little beings. I had to learn at such an early age how hard caring for children is, and how time consuming. You have to give them your everything and put their dreams before yours, so that they can be happy. I realized how much my mom gave up for me and I'm so grateful. But I had to watch as the stress of four kids ate at my mom. She is so young and she has so much more time to live, yet she gave up her life she wanted to live for us, and we didn't even ask for it. The whole experience of raising little humans has made me learn concepts and life lessons that I wouldn't understand unless I had raised them. You need to realize the consequences to your actions and think about the responsibilities you will face before you take action, and you need to think about what you're giving up.