In the summer of 2014 I was sitting on my couch with my mother. We had recently gotten into the popular TV show “Cops''. I remember distinctly watching a drug bust occur on the TV screen. Officers running after a woman. My mother, Anne, was sitting next to me sharing a bowl of popcorn. Her Iphone 4 rang. When she picked up the phone, her face of amusement and excitement immediately drained from her face. She stood up, spilling our popcorn all over the floor. She yelled “Tony! They got her!”. Being 10 at the time I was scared and confused. So many things raced through my head. Got who? What did they do? I jogged down my small house hallway to my parents bedroom. My dad scrambled out of his bed to his cell phone. My Mom instructed me to go to my bed and watch TV. Not knowing what was going on I settled down to play on my Nintendo “Wii” as it was a weekend and I needed to catch up on Mario Party. A few moments passed by and I could hear my parents arguing. Then the sliding door to my room inched open, it never did close fully, my mom called me out to the living room. I sat down on the brown couch once again in my PJ’s. My Mom spoke to me the same way she did when my Grandfather died “James, your sister in Prison”. Thinking that she had gotten pulled over or been in an accident or had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. I asked my Mother “Is she ok? Did she get into a car crash?” My mother glanced over to my father and he gave her a nod of affirmation. My mother spoke these words and I did not understand them then. The weight of that day still presses down on me to this day. “Buddy, your sister was arrested for possession of Heroin.” At the time I had not a clue what heroin was. I knew it was bad, but I simply said “Ok”. Now that I have grown and a month ago my Half-Sister is serving her 3rd term in the State penitentiary. It has been a constant in my life. Me and my Half-sister were never that close. 

In 2009 she  moved out when I was very young. She had a child at 15 and moved out with her slightly older boyfriend. To only move back in less than a month later. Thus bringing the total persons in my small 4 bedroom 1 and a half bathroom house to 8. Our only 1500 square foot house was turning into an overrun hotel. Returning to 2023 my sister had had her second child, Dakota, was born addicted to Heroin. Luckily he survived the dangerous path of the early days of his life and he is currently walking and starting to talk. He even is able to say his basic ABC’s. My Half Sister has taught me so many things in my life. For one I have sworn to never drink or smoke. She has also taught me the importance of self reflection. How to not be the worst person. How to not steal, cheat, and she has also taught me to give back. She has taken so much from so many people it has physically wired me to want to give back. I havent spoken to her in over two years. The final thing she has taught me is,  it is hard to support an addict for almost 9 years.