I was driving down the road the other day, thinking of how the retail market makes any event an opportunity for revenue. Graduation seems to fall into that category, with cards and gifts for every Graduate. This time of year reminds me that my graduation from high school was a bittersweet time. Really, it was the first time I had “surpassed” my older brother, David, in anything significant. I turned the age he was when he died, 18, in the beginning of my senior year of high school. That year was difficult for me, as I felt that I was getting to move past where he had been cut short. Graduation day was no exception. I was happy to be getting out of high school , and looking forward to the coming August when I would go to college. But why was I getting to do these things, and not David? What made me so special that I got to stay here and experience these things? I am still not quite sure of the answer to those questions.
Graduation from high school was really just the first of many events which I have gotten to experience that David never will. College graduation, my wedding, and the birth of my two children are examples. And for me, each event has been a bit bittersweet. The good news is this: that while time does make it easier to bear day-to- day activities without your sibling, each major event in your life presents itself as a new opportunity to remember your brother or sister, as well. For me, figuring that out was a huge relief, as it meant that my fear of forgetting David was not something I needed to worry about any more. His memory is just as alive for me today, 15 ½ years later, as it was when I took that walk across the stage to accept my high school diploma.
Amy Baker Ferry
Heart of Florida TCF, Longwood, FL
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