My family is equally important in unique ways. My sister, Rianna, bore the role of 'first child' admirably. She paved the way for Angie and I by breaking my parents in. She was the first to deal with curfews, sleepovers, co-ed parties, driving restraints, boyfriends and any number of things she was restricted on that we weren't. Rianna has also carried the burden of being successful because she is the first. She handled it with ease. Not only did she read at the ripe age of three, but she continued her academic excellence all the way through college, graduating with honors as a chemical enginner. She has matured into a generous and caring individual, who has proved her intelligence and ability time and again. I view her with awe and know my parents are very proud.
Andrea is a self-assured individual who walks her own path and answers to no one. She did not attempt to follow in Rianna's or my footsteps, and for this I view her with immense respect. Whether it is waitressing, stage-crew, track, or going to a college in a different state, she has carefully pursued her own interests. I envy her social ease, and her fearlessness at everything she approaches.
The dynamics of my family's relationships have always shifted. In wars, it was often parents against kids, girls against boy, dad and daughter(s) against mom, and any combination of the sister's against one another. Rianna usually made me her servant; I in turn learned to make Angie my slave. Rianna and I fed Andrea playdo and told her it was bubble gum; Andrea ripped apart our Trivia Pursuit board and stated we could now each have our own half. Rianna is a cleaning nazi, I'm a huge slob, and Andrea steals our clothes indiscriminately. I love them all. I suppose I could have drawn one family member on top of another to show the family as equally close and important, but the teacher would have questioned my psychological soundness. Leave it to psychologists to develop a test that is impossible to properly complete.
