ADRIANA |
My sister. That word still feels weird to say. My sister.
Growing up with three brothers, I never knew what it was like to have a proper sister, at least not until now. My sister Adriana was born to my father and his wife of the same name about 2 years before I came into the picture. The relationship between my mother and he was not a conventional one as he was, and still is, married to Adriana's mother.
They would have two other children, another girl my age and a boy a few years younger. I would meet them when I was 5 and then wouldn't see them again until my mid teens. Obviously the situation was not pleasant for Adriana Sr. and my mother. For my father, he got best of both worlds. His wife and his mistress.
As children we didn't understand the situation but as we got older we realised all that had happened. I not only grew to resent my father, who I saw on average two times a year, but I grew ever so jealous of these siblings I didn't know. Kids who would grow up with both parents - no matter how broken they may have seem.
By the time I was in my senior year of university, in Saint Louis, I had officially stopped talking to my father; but through the glory that is Facebook my sister found me. I didn't know how to take it and my first reaction was to reject her - and so I did. I should not have been surprised at her perseverance, we do share genes after all. In the summer of 2006, days before I would move to London, I agreed to meet her in New York.
She seemed well collected and we got on just fine. She kept her promise of not getting our father involved and I kept my promise of not disappearing... At least not intentionally.
It would take a few years but I have not only learned to love her, I have come to understand that we are not so different, my sister and I. We have read the same books, love the same movies, and have very similar mannerisms and ideals on life. So much for Nature Vs. Nurture.
She convinced me to go see my father on his birthday and though I only saw him once during my short stay in New York - it was an unprecedented ice breaker that will hopefully lead to something more in the future. It took all these years to feel somewhat a part of Adriana's life, I look forward to the years ahead.
Adriana is now married and has a beautiful daughter, my niece, named Ameera.
AMEERA |
A New York Summary: Part 5 of 10
Reviewed by Christópher Abreu Rosario
on
05:00
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