Contrast Essay

We share the same parents. We had the same upbringing.
We're really not that far apart in ages. All grown up now
I can't believe at the different lives we live. How can
three children go through the same childhood and become
such different people.

My sister, Anne Marie, is the oldest. She's tall and slender.
She's loud and pushy, in a loving but still pushy way. She
has two children by two fathers and is on her second
marriage. He's not the father to either of the kids, but
what a great guy to both my sister and her children. She's
finally happy. It took her a long way to get there.
Lot's of drama, lots of tears, and a whole lot of growing up.
She's now forty years old, went back to school to become
a nurse (which she's quite good at) and seems to have
settled down quite nicely.

Middle child is my brother, Rick. He and I are only a year
apart. We are much more similar than me and my sister,
but still....very different. We're the same in that we have
similar looks. Through the years, we lived our lives much
differently. It took him some time to settle down as well.
He's never had kids of his own. Couldn't slow down long
enough, I suppose. He traveled for years as a construction
worker across country. Living the bachelor's dream.
He finally came home and is now married to a woman
who has two children; one in the service and one in high
school. He went from wild boy to now owning a farm
with cows and horses and is a full time fire fighter and
EMT.

Then you have me. The youngest in the family, but since
I can remember, the one who was always the rock. Never
partied, always trying to make my parents proud. Worked
to get good grades. Dated a nice boy in high school, worked
since I was 15, got married and settled down at 18, and
gave birth to our first child at 21. I've always been the
quiet and shy one of the family. I hated attention drawn
to me. Just the opposite of my sister who loved to be heard
and seen at all times. The baby of the family and daddy's
little girl, that's me.

So how can three people turn out to be so different? We
must be born with qualities and trates that belong to
no-one else but ourselves. It's built into to us long before
the things we learn from environment come along. But
even though we are so different, we have one great
common bond. The bond of sibling love is always there,
and when life becomes a struggle, they are always the
first ones to my rescue.