My family is normal to a sense, I have a mom and a dad and also a sister. The twist in my family comes from my little sister Kimi, she is adopted.
My sister was six months old when we flew to Guatemala to get her in September of 2005. I was 9 years old, I had spent those first 9 years of my life as an only child and as well as the youngest of all the cousins, you could say I had it made when it came to getting attention from anyone in my family. My whole world was about to be rocked and turned upside down.
We got my little sister the first day we were in Guatemala and I remember the day like it was yesterday, my very chubby little sister was sitting on her foster mothers lap, sucking her thumb and looking miserable because she had these two tiny little pigtails on the top of her head and they were too tight.
The first thing I did was say hello to her foster mother, and I sat on the ground and told my sister "Hi i'm your big sister Jessi!" and I reached to touch her little hand and she immediately grabbed my finger and never let go and we were instantly inseparable.
It is crazy having a nine year age difference between Kimi and I and for awhile it was very hard, especially when I was becoming a moody teenager and she was becoming a toddler, we both drove my mother up a wall in our own special ways.
Through these now ten and a half years we been together, we act like normal biological siblings would,we bicker a lot just like normal sisters do, we pull hair, and fight over the T.V and who is mom's favorite (clearly me). She is now even to the point where she is stealing my clothes- nothing is safe.
To me it was never strange to have an adopted sister, it did not bother me we don't look alike or the fact she does not look like anyone in our family, it is what makes her special. Sure, I had to get used to my mom and or dad telling her adoption story to everyone within the first thirty seconds of meeting someone new. I also got used to the "are you adopted too?" questions and I do not blame them for asking because I do not look like either of my parents.
Having an adopted sister has taught me a lot, it has taught me that love is truly unconditional. My parents love my sister just as much as they love me, their biological child. My parents treat us the same there was never any moment of "she gets special treatment because she is adopted" or "I get special treatment because I am biological." Everything is even. My sister was loved and accepted by my family instantly and the fact she is adopted never really exists to us. She is their daughter plain and simple, and she is my sometimes pain in the butt little sister, plain and simple.
