Chelle is four years younger than I am, so she was only 4 years old when I became sick. Now both of us are in our 40’s and she has complained many times over the years that she does not really know everything that was wrong with me.
Did my parents make a mistake by protecting her? No, in the beginning she was too young to understand. It was easier to make sure Chelle was taken care of. As she grew older, my parents kept it up. They felt they were protecting her by not informing her. Now that was a mistake.
Chelle has suffered a major blow, still telling me she would like to know it all. How does that make me feel that my own sister will have to read this book when it is published to even know what her only sister went through? I feel sad, compassionate, and understanding of my parents to protect their children from harm. At least she had a somewhat normal childhood, or so we think. For all of this I apologize to my sister. I love her so much and hope she understands that all parents, even us, try to do what is best for their children in all situations. Of course all of our parental decisions are not right, and far from perfect, but they are decisions we make daily for every member of the family. My only advice for now is to let everyone in the family understand when someone is ill, and have them share in that illness is some way for their own peace of mind.
