1) The author reflects on how as a child she didn't want a sister but as an adult yearned for someone of the same gender close in age to talk to about problems, especially during her father's illness.
2) Through Facebook, the author was contacted by a woman who shared a photo of her father, and they discovered they were long lost sisters through their father.
3) The author is happy to have found her sister as an adult and now has someone to talk to about anything, fulfilling her desire for a sister.
As a Child I Never Wanted a Sister but as an Adult I Yearned For One
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Josefina Martínez
ENG 101
Profesor Alicia Bolton
January 26, 2012
As A Child I Never Wanted It but As an Adult I Yearned For It
As a little girl, I never wanted a sister. I loved being the center of attention and always
having my daddy to myself. I was the baby of five older brothers, and I was a very spoiled child.
I am older now and realize that I really need someone of my same gender and close to my age to
talk “girl talk” with or to help me through difficult times. At the moments that I was having men
or relationship problem, I really wanted a sister that could understand my problems and maybe
offer me a solution.
One day I was on Facebook, and I was just checking on the updates of my friends when I
received a message from one of my friends. The message read, “If your dad was or is your hero
put his picture as your profile picture.” I did not do it immediately. I thought about it, but every
time I logged into Facebook, the message would pop out at me. So I decided to upload the
picture of my dad. Since I did not have a picture of him on my Facebook, I was going to have to
upload one. I searched through my house, looked in my albums until I found the one that I
wanted to put as my profile picture. It was my favorite picture because it was the last one we
took of him. He was standing in the snow with his brown big eyed dog. Everything was so white
and beautiful with our red brick house in the back ground. Shortly after the picture was taken, he
was diagnosed with cancer and before the changes in my life began to occur.
In the times that my dad was sick and after, it was just my mother and me. Of course my
brothers were around, but it was not the same. I felt like they did not feel or understand the pain
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that I was going through. I was my daddy’s little girl and he was my whole world! He was my
superman hero and I was his sunshine. I sometimes wonder if I would have had a sister, how that
would have changed the woman that I am today. Would it make me depend more on someone
because I am pretty independent. I left his picture up for a little over a week on my Facebook
page just because I loved seeing it there when I logged in to my profile. I loved entering my
login id and password, just to see his picture pop up as me! After I had changed my picture, a
couple of days later I received a friend request from Margarita Solis, a girl out in Long Beach,
California. I usually do not accept people that I do not know because of the freaks in today’s
society. So I started to investigate this person that wanted me as a friend! I looked on her page
and noticed that my cousins from California also had her as friends so I accepted her. I still
remember thinking that maybe she was a long lost cousin or relative that I did not know. It was
not unusual for me to discover new family members because I do not know half of my family.
Over time I realized she liked my pictures or commented on them, so I was thinking “Good
decision, no harm done” on accepting her friendship. It wasn’t until she saw the picture of my
dad and commented on. She asked me “is that your dad” and I responded “yes, it was taking
before he got sick and died” and she responded “oh.” It was weird because the caption under the
picture read mi papa (my dad) and anybody can comprehend that.
After that, time passed and I received another request from Mary Salgado. I did not know
her either but I noticed on her wall that my cousins on my dad side listed her as a cousin, so I
figured she was my cousin also. Little did I know that I was so far from right in my assumptions?
She sent me a message and she said, “Hey, how are you?” and I responded “Good what about
you?” and that is our conversation started. She told me “Your dad is my dad” and I responded
“W.T.H. you are kidding right,” and she said “no, I’m not kidding I have that same picture.” I
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always knew that my dad was a very happy man and he loved the ladies, so I figured I had more
brothers and sisters in this world but none that I knew. I did not believe her at first, I asked my
mom if she knew who she was and she said “Si, es tu Hermana” confirming what Mary had told
me. I could not believe it all these years thinking I was the only girl in the family and also my
desire for a sister. Luckily we found each other and now we talk and chat at least once a week.
Whenever she feels like she needs someone to talk to, she calls me. We talk like we were raised
together and the weirdest part is that she and I look so much alike. I love the fact that now I have
a sister to talk to about anything and everything.