This is a story of hope and inspired me to be who I am today.
Author's Note: This story is a true story about my sister, who shall remain nameless. The title is just a way to show that Jesus inspired my sister and I. It does not mean to persuade you into my religion of any way.
My love for her will never end. She is my sister by birth, but my best friend by choice. My 8 year-old sister. We were twins separated by 6 years of circumstances. We are so much alike from the way we look to the way we both hold our pencils. If I ever lost her, I would die. And I almost did.
My sister was born when I was 6 years-old. When she was born, this was just another baby in the family and I thought of it as "nothing special." Boy, was I in for a surprise.
She was beautiful though. She had blonde hair and big blue eyes, but there was something different about her. You see, she was born with a birthmark on her head. It was the size of about half of the one sides of her scalp. The doctors and my parents worried a bit, but never showed their worry in front of my brother and I.
She was a bundle of energy that never showed signs of slowing down. By the first week she lived with us, I grew attached. Being sisters has an effect on girls that boys have no idea can happen. We have someone to talk to, someone to bond with, and someone to be fashionable with!
Years went by and my sister grew older, and her birthmark did too. By the time she was 4, the birthmark grew to the size of our male doctor's hand! The doctors told my parents that it had a 60% chance of becoming melanoma (one of the rarest types of skin cancer.) By that time, my parents wanted to get that "thing" out of there as soon as possible.
The only problem was that my sister would have to get tissue expanders, which are big bubble like balloons that are put in your skin to stretch it, in her head. Plus, leave them in her head while they gradually get larger over a period of a year. I did not want my sister to go through that pain, but it was for her life.
We went to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland to get these tissue expanders put in her head. The surgery lasted 3 hours. 3 long, hours with the fear of her not making it through.
When she came out, it looked like someone beat her up. Her forehead had a huge bubble on it and her face was all distorted. That was not my sister. She was tired, groggy, and did not want to do anything, and that was not like her.
After a year went by, the "bubbles" were 5 times the size they were at the start. They were ready to come out. So, we drove to the hospital, and we waited. And waited. And waited. The surgery took 7 hours. 7 long, hours. When, my sister came out, I breathed a sigh of relief, but to my surprise she looked worse. Her eyes were black and blue, her hair was shaved on the side, and she looked weak. My sister was still not back.
When we got home, she told me something. Something I never heard before. She said that she awoke during the surgery, and felt nothing but everlasting pain. She just wanted it all to go away. She said she felt her eye lids getting heavier and heavier. Then, she saw Jesus standing right beside her, and he told her it would be alright and she should stay strong, this would be over soon. He gave her a hug and disappeared, and she was awaken by the doctor.
I was shocked. I know she was not making this up because she was only 5 and could not make something like that up. I was just so astonished that she could recollect that. Did Jesus really visit my sister and tell her to stay strong, while she was literally dying? Who knows, all I know was that something extraordinary saved my sister's life. I believe God and Jesus was by her side all along, watching and waiting for her to slip and catch her.
After a couple months, my sister was back to herself. She was the same energetic girl she was before, but now she was more beautiful than ever. She was my sister again, my best friend again. I missed her, and I was happy that she was back.
Now, she is 8 years-old. My best friend is finally 8 years-old. She triumphed over many obstacles when many others could not, and she is only 8 years-old. So, now that I think about it, something or someone has to be with her. I have not believed in God and Jesus more than I do now. They are truly our saviors.
---Carly(Brunetty2)
