General

When my Dad skipped out of our lives my sister became my mom. Not because we didn't have Mom anymore, but because she spent every waking hour earning enough money to pay the mortgage and buy groceries. Sometimes I think back to how I used to whine for the cool stuff other kids had, I'd like to scrub those memories from my brain, but I was a kid and that's what kids do. If Annie hadn't started cooking and doing laundry I don't know what would have happened; I've heard about foster homes and to be honest they sound more like cattle holding pens with just as much love. Annie walked me to school, helped me learn spellings and told me to go to bed at eight thirty. Sometimes she shouted so much like Mom it was like they were the same person, but Annie was just thirteen. Perhaps that's why she doesn't have kids now, maybe raising me was enough for her. When we turned sixteen we had to get out and find jobs, Mom was all spent after so many years of non-stop labour...

By Angela Abraham, @daisydescriptionari, January 30, 2015.