I come from a family of five daughters and I am the oldest. My parents came to Canada from a different country with all of us kids in tow, the youngest only a few months at the time. I am eight years older than my baby sister.
When we first arrived in Canada, my mom fell ill, and I had to step up. We had family here, so I wasn’t expected to become the matriarch, but I did have to do more than the average second grader. But I loved my sisters, and we had lots of fun together.
We put on plays, choreographed traditional and modern dances and ran talent shows for our cousins and neighbours. By the time the youngest was 10 and I had just started university, living in residence, our parents split up. The two youngest girls stayed with our mom and the two older girls lived with our dad.
Initially it was all amicable and the split was done thoughtfully based on the girls’ school location and their extracurricular activities. I stayed in residence because I had lost my own room, and both homes were small. I had a few items of clothing and “stuff” in each.
I managed to stay in residence for the remainder of my university career as a resident assistant. I have since graduated, found an apartment that I share with my closest in age sister while she attends university and have a very good job in my career of choice. I help the family out a lot, both financially and because I have a driver’s licence and access to a car, which my mother does not have.
Recently, when I popped over .
