One of my first clear memories of Margaret is when she was five and started school. I was only three and didn't quite understand why she had to go away in the morning and I couldn't come along. Every day though as soon as she got home she'd race off to find me and tell me about all the fun stuff she did at school. Then she'd grab some toys and pay with me while we watched cartoons on TV. She also would always keep me around when she'd have friends over and sometimes even took me with her when she went to visit friends. During the next summer she insisted that I go everywhere she went especially if it meant playing with a garden hose at a friend's house. Margaret just loved watching me soak her friends while they ran all over their yard.
The next year was easier since by that time I understood why Margaret was going away in the morning. Each day I would watch out the window waiting for her to come home so that we could talk about the fun she had at school. I remember how excited I got as the months went by that the following fall we'd be going to school together each morning. The following summer I kept asking Margaret and all her friends what school was like. Then in early September I started school and thought it was the greatest thing in the whole world. I finally got to do all the stuff I had been hearing about for so long and best of all each morning I got to go to school with my sister. Kindergarten only lasted half the day so I still spent each day waiting for Margaret to come home. Every day I'd ask her what she did and she asked me what I did at school and we talk sometimes until dinner time.
The next year was even better, not only did I get to walk with Margaret to school but I got to see her during recess and walk home from school with her. During recess she would ether come play with me and my friends or have me come play with her and her friends. Now instead of having to wait until she got home to talk about school we'd start as soon as we'd meet after school and we still would talk for hours. Some of our friends thought it was odd but I just said "I like talking to my sister" because I did, I just thought she as the greatest person in the whole world. In school when someone asked either one of us who are best friend was we'd always respond with the same answer, "my sister". Our answer didn't change at all during the rest of the school year, the summer or the following school year. We still spent hours talking about school and she would still either play with me and my friends or take me to play with her and her friends. And best of all Margaret decide she wanted to take dance lessons to after I started so we had even more to talk about.
The next summer Margaret became more than just my best friend and sister, she became my hero. After I lost my arm she spent all her time helping me, whether it was helping me get dressed or helping me figure out how to play with all my toys. No one was happier when I figured out how to do things one handed than she was. When I got my artificial arm Margaret would keep thinking of things for me to do so I could get used to using it. When school started she told me that if anyone made fun of me she would take care of it. Soon after school started I noticed her group of friends changed a bit, I thought it was just part of being in fifth grade, it wasn't until I was 14 that I found out she dumped some of her friends because they would make fun of me behind my back. Margaret also spent more time with me and my friends until she made new friends. Then I spent more time with her and her friends than with my friends.
The next couple years went happily by, Margaret now telling me about how great it was to be in the upper grades and me just waiting for when I got there. Every time Margaret learned something new she'd tell me about it. The most memorable of her lessons was the one she gave me on the birds and the bees. She took me to her room and showed me her book from school as she explained it all to me. I remember watching her grow and wondering what it would be like. The last few months of when I was in sixth grade were hard on us because in the fall Margaret would be going to high school and I would have to more years of grade school. It was odd the first month or so when I started seventh grade, for the first time since I was little I wouldn't be at school with Margaret. Even though we were now older she still told me about everything that happened at school.
I remember not being able to wait until I was in high school as I listened to my sister talk. I especially loved it when she would have her friends over and I could talk with them. During her second year at high school Margaret had one friend that she had over every chance she got. I thought it was great because Margaret would let me talk to her as much as I wanted. I never thought to think that Margaret felt the same way about girls that I did until one day in the spring when she sat me down in her room to tell something that she said she wanted to tell me for a long time. She sat down and told me how she felt about girls and she didn't feel anything like it for boys. She asked me if I thought it was odd, I just told her I felt the same way. She just looked at me and started crying and gave me a big hug, she never thought her sister would not only accept her but be the same way. We spent the rest of the night and a lot of time ever since talking about which girls we liked and didn't like.
The summer came soon and I was all excited, in the fall I'd be going to high school so I'd get to go with Margaret to school each day again. Even better Margaret got her driver's license and we'd go all over to shop and girl watch. Then just before my birthday the phone rang early one evening while Margaret was out. She had been in a car accident and was in the hospital. My mom called my dad and grabbed me and we raced to the hospital. When we got there we found out that Margaret was being sent up t surgery, her leg had been crushed in the accident and she was going to have to have it amputated. I just remember crying in the waiting room, thinking about how unfair it was that my sister was losing her leg. When she was out of surgery and I was allowed to go see her I just remember holding her hand with tears running down my face and Margaret just looking at m and whispering "Don't cry, I'll be ok". I barely slept the next few days as all I could do was think about my sister having to spend the rest of her life with just one leg. I didn't mind being one armed one bit but to have my sister be one legged just seemed so unfair and made me angry and scared at the same time.
I visited Margaret each day at the hospital and as she got better she kept talking about not being able to wait to go out with me again. She didn't let the pan or anything keep her from being her usual self. When she got out of the hospital I spent all m time helping her out just as she had helped me out when I lost my arm. She just wanted her strength back so she could take me shopping and girl watching again. I kept expecting her to breakdown and cry but she never did until one day when she was looking at a picture of herself from a dance recital and just started crying. I put my arm around her and rested her head on my shoulder as she cried about no being able to do that anymore. I just held her and told her we'd find a way. From then on all Margaret thought about was figuring out how to do things, she had it easier then I did since she could still hold on to things but her hands were busy holding her crutches now. Then when her stump had healed Margaret started to learn how to walk with an artificial leg, even though she was told not to walk with it too much at first she kept going for walks with me every day and started taking me out again. When school started I worried about Margaret being made fun of but she just smiled and said she could handle anything that happened.
The year just flew buy and so did the following year and before I knew it we had only two weeks left of going to school together. Margaret would be off to college in the fall and I still had two years of high school to finish. I remember crying the night before the last day that we'd go to school together. Margaret just looked me in the eyes and said "don't worry, you'll be ok"> I knew she was right and didn't feel so bad anymore. The next day and the summer went by much too fast and before I knew it Margaret was off at college and I was at home. I remember going into her room and looking at her stuff and just thinking about how much I loved her and how odd it was not to be together any more. I remember thinking about how lucky I was to have a sister like Margaret, someone that not only accepted me but really understood. I also remember thinking about my parents surviving having two lesbian daughters at home and never saying a word when either one brought a girlfriend home. My parents didn't even freak out when Margaret came out to them when she was sixteen or when I came out a year later. Everything just kept on rolling along.
With Margaret away at college I just waited for every chance I got to talk with her and see her. I had the chance to go to school with her again but I decided to go to Wisconsin instead of the University of Illinois were she went. We both ended up as computer science majors and during my last two years of college Margaret loved to come visit me on her own on weekends. She had decided she couldn't live anywhere else other than Chicago and when it came time for me to get a job for after I graduated I knew I couldn't live apart from my sister again and so I got a job in Chicago. Ever since we've never lived more than a couple miles apart and see each other almost every day. We still talk about all the fun stuff we do for hours and we still love to go shopping and girl watching. To this day I still think of Margaret as my best friend and hero.
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