Heather

Heather on her first day of kindergarten.

My older sister Heather is my hero. She was born in Minnesota. She is 11 years older than me and is the oldest of the three children in my family. Heather and I have different fathers and when she was younger our mother left Heather's father and brought her with her. Then our mother met my dad and got married when my sister was 7. Three years later they had my brother Nic, and about two years later had me. My sister and my dad didn't get along very well while she was growing up. So when she was 16 she ran away from home. Heather lived on the streets and with my grandma.

My sister has overcome lots of obstacles in her life such as overcoming drugs. When she was 18 she became pregnant with her first child. About two years later she had another baby girl. She was not married to the girls’ father, although they had been together for years, and Heather later left him and is now engaged to her fiancé Bobby. She had her third and last child in 2006. About a year ago my sister was in a bad car accident and her leg broke in six places, she bruised her foot and broke a bone in her hand. She was in the hospital for several days and is still recovering. She still has a few breaks in her left and is overcoming everyday challenges such as taking care of her children. She continues to struggle with doing the things she used to such as cleaning and cooking because she will be permanently disabled. My sister is unable to do the things she loves too, like riding horses and playing with her children, but even so she can still tell me things will get better and to keep my head up.

My sister has many personality traits that I admire. She is one of the most caring people I know. She takes care of her three kids all day and she is very unselfish. I was having some problems at home when I was about 9 and she let me live with her for a few months until things got better. She also puts other people before herself all the time, even when she should be taking care of herself. After all she has been through she still tries to live life to the fullest and keeps a positive attitude for her children.

My sister has made me a better person by always telling me to keep my head up and keep going. She always tells me that even with all the mistakes I’ve made, I can still make my life better, and she encourages me to do so. I try to learn from my sister's mistakes so that I won’t make the same ones. She has inspired me to make the best of life in the worst situations. She also has shown me that I can overcome anything if I try hard enough. I know not everybody has a sister that inspires them like mine does, but I hope everybody has someone in their life that can encourage and push them to do their best like my sister has for me.