One November evening of eighth grade, I came home to learn that my older sister, Julia, had gone to a hospital to be treated for depression and anxiety. I was told that she would only be there for a week. After this one week, Julia was transferred to a different hospital where she remained for two months. During these two months, we never knew when Julia was going to come home. It sometimes took weeks to see if a certain medicine was working for Julia and so her recovery process was very ambiguous. Thanksgiving, my birthday, Christmas, and New Years all passed without Julia home. Weekends and days off from school during this time usually consisted of me staying home and taking care of my younger sister, Jenna, while my parents visited Julia. Julia could only occasionally come home for a few hours because these visits were considered …show more content…
Now, with years to look back on my experiences, I am able to recognize many of my qualities as reflections of my decision. I consider myself a reserved and independent person who does not like to burden others with my problems, and that is a result of decision about Julia’s depression. From that decision, I taught myself for years to be completely independent even if the consequence is living in fear. I can’t think of eighth grade without remembering coming home that November night to learn about Julia’s diagnosis, I refuse to look at our family picture albums from that year, I make sure never to talk about events that Julia missed during her two month hospitalization, and whenever someone in my family mentions Julia’s depression, I immediately disregard the conversation. Although I have spent years healing from that difficult experience and I no longer live with that fear and isolation, a part of me will always be trapped by my