My name is Brenna, I have a sister who has a form of Autism. Her name is Amber. Forgive me for not knowing the name of what she has. From the time we were kids, it was hard for me to understand why my sister had more attention from our parents than I did. It sparked a lot of anger inside of me, even into my high school years I hated talking about my sister. Anytime someone came up to me and asked me about her, I would give them short answers like "She's good. Doing well. I'll tell her hi." and then I would walk away. I know I probably sound like someone who deserves a hard slap to the face, but, this is how I truly acted.
It still bothers me to this day, that many people still come up to me, asking about her. But I've learned to live with the fact that she is different, in a very special way. She's slow, finds things funnier than most others would, opens up to people far to easily, sometimes still annoys me when she is curious about anything and everything and repeatedly asks about it. And I admit, sometimes I still yell at her without thinking about it. But I do apologize later and we make up. I wouldn't change her for any amount of riches in the world. She's my sister and I love her very much.
We still have our ups and down, as I am almost 21 and she is currently 27. I understand that she takes things in slower and sometimes I have to take a deep breath and talk things out with her. She gets frustrated and cries over the easiest of things. And those are the times I've learned to sit down and explain things slowly to her, so she understands what is going on. And those are the times that seem to help her the most. Things may still be bumpy between us, but, we are are still siblings, sisters, and nothing will ever change that.
Brockway, PA
