Once we moved to the new school the following school year it wasn’t long before my sister started running away and fighting against Dad with all her might. Apparently one time Dad found out where she was and went to get her and she all but broke his arm trying to get away. It was all he could do to wrangle her home. Thus began a tumultuous road for my sister.
She went from being the crown jewel in our family to a ward of the crown. That’s a huge change. The way Dad tells it, if it wasn’t for him the foster parents would have taken my sister and only my sister. So imagine for a moment being the baby and treated like gold your entire life.
From my perspective it seemed to me that everything revolved around Gwen. However it is not uncommon for the “baby of the family” to be catered to. Anyone with a younger sibling will likely tell you the same, but then pair that with the fact that they don’t want the older sibling in the first place and everything gets magnified just a little.
When Dad and I had one of “the talks” he stated that Gwen and I would be treated fairly and equally. That’s when I put Dad on a pedestal that he didn’t get knocked off of for quite a few years.
Whew, I will be treated fairly and equally. Great for me, or at least so it seemed on the surface. Unfortunately, I was so well trained to receive punishment, warranted or not, that I just continued to keep my own counsel on what “really happened” when an incident occurred. And when punishment was delayed until we got back from the cottage, I’d develop a fever and be sick to my stomach the whole weekend. I remember Dad asking me why I didn’t just tell him what happened! I guess he just didn’t get it. Telling a kid they’ll be believed and will be treated fairly when their entire life experience in no way bears this out doesn’t exactly result in an about face.
Imagine for a moment what this must have been like for Gwen. She was no longer the golden child. She was getting punished for things, which in the past, would have been passed off as my fault. It must have felt like nobody loved her anymore, no one was on her side.
That had to be one hell of a shock, so no surprise she started rebelling an never let up.
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