Not many have had to undergo the various struggles that twenty-one-year-old Sierra Thompson has had to endure.
Left to care for her younger sister after the tragic death of their parents, all while juggling college and a minimum wage job, Sierra is...
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1
I had the weekend off from work, so I spent it doing the one thing I rarely have time for—sleeping.
In between having a nine to five, going to school full time, and raising a seventeen-year-old hormonal teenager, getting in a solid eight hours of sleep was a blessing I always welcomed.
"Looks like the food coma struck." I laughed while entering the living room.
After destroying an order of wings and half a pizza, my little sister Christina, or Chrissy for short, was stretched out on the couch completely knocked out. She looked so peaceful, so I decided not to disturb her by waking her to tell her to go get in her bed.
I cut off the lights and the TV, locked the front door, and then went to my bedroom. I can't describe how much of a relief it was to not be surrounded by the strong aroma of coffee and spices. I've worked at that place so much that by now, I could practically smell coffee in my damn sleep.
As I entered my room, I stripped out of my clothes and threw on my nightwear before crawling into bed.
This is the only time where I could actually let go of all the bullshit that surrounded me on a daily basis. I didn't have to worry about how the bills were going to be paid or where Chrissy and my next meal would come from. I could simply rest in peace.
Life hasn't always been this hard for us, though. There was a time when Chrissy and I had it good.
It was when our parents were still alive.
We grew up in a good home with two loving and hard-working parents. Our mother spoiled us while our father taught us discipline. Chrissy and I never wanted for anything despite our parents not having fancy paying corporate jobs or anything like that. They would always make do with what they had.
My dad worked in a factory while my mom was a nurse. She got laid off for a bit, and for some time it was just my dad working. There were days when I watched my mother cry because we didn't have enough money to pay all the bills. Days my father would work himself sick to keep a roof over our heads. Yet, somehow, we always made it through.
Life was simple then.
But a week after my eighteenth birthday is when everything would get doused in hot flames.
It's when a drunk driver would take my parents away from me and Chrissy. They were on their way home after spending an evening out to celebrate their anniversary and they were hit head-on by a drunk driver. I'll never forget that day for as long as I live.
I had just finished cleaning the kitchen when a loud banging started up at the front door. It was almost midnight, so I definitely wasn't expecting any company. I cautiously walked over to the door and looked through the peephole, but it was too dark out to see much of anything. The porch light had busted days ago and my father never got around to fixing it.
"Who is it?" I called out.
"Officer Wells. I need to speak to Sierra Thompson. This is an emergency," a male voice spoke.
An officer? My stomach dropped as various thoughts, mostly negative, raced through my mind. I unlocked the door and cracked it open as I glared up at the tall policeman.
"I'm Sierra Thompson. What's the emergency?" I asked in a panicked voice.
The look on the older man's face showed nothing but sympathy. My parents immediately popped into my mind and I remember how my hands were trembling as everything around me grew quiet. It's almost like time had stopped for a second.
"I'm sorry to tell you this, Ms. Thompson, but your parents have been in a terrible car accident," said the officer. "We noticed that you were listed as the next of kin. A drunk driver hit them head-on tonight. No one survived. I'm so sorry for your loss."
I instantly began to sob and leaned against the door frame for support. I couldn't form any words and barely any thoughts. Everything was a blur.
My whole world had come crashing down around me within seconds, and there was absolutely nothing that I could do about it. Losing a loved one brings forth an indescribable pain that will be stuck with you forever. No amount of time can heal your hurt after dealing with something so traumatic. I wouldn't wish the feeling on my worst enemy.
It's been almost three years since they've been gone, and I still have my days where I think about them and break down to cry. Regardless of what happened, I knew I couldn't completely lose my sanity. I had to be strong. I was now responsible for my baby sister. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't give up on life because I had someone that now depended on me, Chrissy. I had her to take care of.
I had to put all the kiddy shit aside and step into the adult role because playing games was over. Life was happening. Luckily, we caught a break because had I not been eighteen, 'officially' an adult at the time of the accident, then Chrissy and I would've been separated and thrown into foster care. But from that day on, it's been us against the world.
We had family that we probably could've leaned on at the time, but we weren't close to any of them. So that was that. Whichever way we were going to survive was now up to me. All the decisions, choices, where we were going to live, all the bills, money, it all was left to me—an eighteen-year-old girl.
Thankfully, my parent's life insurance money held us over for a while until I started college, which wasn't until a year later. But in order for me to be closer to the campus that was two hours away from where Chrissy and I were living at the time, we had to move. If things had been different, had my parents still been alive, I could've lived on campus. But due to me having Christina, I couldn't, so moving it was.
I couldn't afford to drive back and forth every day, so we had no other choice. I managed to get a cheap apartment close to the school and that's where we've been ever since.
Christina is now seventeen and in high school. I'm twenty-one with one more year of college left - I've been here for three already. It's almost funny in a way because college wouldn't have even been an option for me had I not scored that scholarship.
I guess if looking at it that way, we've actually been doing pretty well for ourselves. And I can't talk like I'm so strong-willed as if I have all my shit together because I don't. Had it not been for my two best friends Carlos and Angela, mentally and emotionally, I don't know where I'd be right now.
I met them in my first year here because we all had the same history class. We've been inseparable since.
Carlos lives on campus and Angela lives just around the block from me in an apartment complex that was far better looking than mine, but owned by the school. We were actually going to room together, but being that I had Christina, I had to decline.
Compared to me and Carlos, Angela has what I'd call the perfect life. Her parents are upper class and extremely wealthy. Whatever she wants, she can swipe a card and get it. But besides her extreme wealth, she's actually a very selfless and down to earth type of person. She doesn't flash around how much money she has nor does she ever brag about it. She's really a decent girl.
Overall, college isn't that bad, I guess. It's not great like how they portray it to be on television, but I can't complain much. I only have one year left and then I'm out of this dump. I can't wait for the day when I receive my bachelors in Human Services. The field has a variety of things that a person can go for.
Sadly, I'm still trying to figure out what it is that I'm meant to do in life.
Feels like I should have all my shit sorted out by now, but I don't. I'm just trying to take life as it comes, one day at a time, no matter the struggle.
