Notes

A small family of three once lived in a house in a small and quiet neighborhood. Soon, it was to become a family of four. On a sunny, summer day, a bouncing baby girl came into the world. Me. But boy, was I in for a heck of a lot of danger as I went through my pre-teen years...

Shortly after I was born, we had traveled to Ireland, where my mom was from. We went to McDonald’s one day while staying with my aunt. We all ordered hamburgers.

That was the day my life turned around.

The next day, my sister kept needing to go to the bathroom. My mom and dad were concerned. But they didn’t go to the doctor until weeks later. Her bloody diarrhea condition finally had gotten worse and they went to the hospital.

They diagnosed her with E. Coli.

My aunt was crying and apologizing so many times to my mom. She had no idea the McDonald’s patty in the hamburger was infected. My mom kept forgiving her but she was still so upset. She felt it was all her fault in the end. But there was no end.
We sued the McDonald’s. They had given her medicine and everything but I was just minding my own business. I was just a three-year-old girl who had no idea what was going on. Except that it was bad.

Before she got sick, she used to always tell me to look on the bright side of every situation. She told me there was always ‘a sunny side to a problem.’ That was the piece of advice I took everywhere with me.



I was sitting down close to Angela. Not too close. I didn’t want to catch E. Coli. Or should I say Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome? That’s right: my sister had HUS. We were in the hospital, my parents and I. This was when I was eight. She was eleven. She was in the hospital because bruises and bleeding were occurring on her face unexplainably. And her hands started swelling.
She didn’t look like my sister at all.

The doctor came in and had diagnosed her with HUS shortly after we arrived. He said we had to give lots of fluids with electrolytes. He prescribed some prescription medicine. Soon, she had a kidney transplant so she could live longer.

And since then, I’ve been in charge of my older sister.

Rent became a burden for us eventually. My parents had to work even more than they had used to. That meant they were gone most of the time. I had to grow up quicker than I thought I would have to. I never got a real childhood like most kids. Except for those seldom times when my mom would take me out for ice cream once in a while.
It was all about my sister. My mom and dad made all their attention point towards my sister. I always did what I was told and did even more. But I didn’t get acknowledged for it. I knew my parents loved me, but I didn’t think they’d noticed.

So I did even more.

My parents hadn’t noticed that all I was doing that spring was taking care of Angela. I wasn’t even going to school much. One day, I came home with a note from my teacher.
My parents read it and my father asked, “What is this, Kara?”
I confessed about staying home and not going to school. And that I was here for Angela.
“Well, school ends in summer so I guess it’s fine for you to stay with Angela. I’ll send your teacher an email,” said my mom.
I was really happy! Speaking of Angela, I went to go check on her, ecstatic about starting summer early.

The rest is history...