“Those who matter don’t mind, and those who mind don’t matter.” Every time I hear this, I think of my older sister Amanda. She is 25 and has always been there for me. She has always told me that if I have to say something to a friend or someone, then tell them and if they don’t really care about what I have to say then they may not be as good of a friend as I thought they were. She always reminds me, “If I didn’t care then I wouldn’t be trying so hard to help you.” When I was little I never really understood what those words meant, but as I grew up, it came to me and I told myself, “Amanda wants me to do the right things in life not the wrong things. That’s why she tries so hard to push me on the right track.”
“If tomorrow never comes, will you regret the things you’ve said today?” Ever since I was little Amanda has told me to watch what I say to people and how I treat them, especially my parents. I would be disrespecting my mom, by yelling and ignoring her. But Amanda sat me down at the kitchen table and we had a very long talk about it she said, “Darla, you have got to watch what you say to mom. One day you are going to need her and she’s not going to be there anymore. You only have one mom and one dad. How do you think that makes Bailey feel to see you yelling at our mom and being so disrespectful? You have to stop and think about these kinds of things before you do them. Set a good example for Bailey.” I knew from that very moment that she was right. I knew that I did only have one mom and one dad, but more importantly I knew that if something did happen to my mom, I would regret everything.
I get home from school and I go upstairs to my room. Usually about five minutes after that, I hear my name being called, “Darla, is your homework done?” “No,” “Bring me your ipod, cell phone, and kindle, until your work is done. School is more important than your friends right now. It will take you maybe an hour if even that, then you can go play, text, or do whatever. ” Another thing my sister has made me realize is that, in order to fulfill my dreams of being a vet then I’m going to have to buckle down and get to studying instead of worrying about texting, and going to play with my friends right now. I can play when my work is done.
“Only the good die young.” Not too long ago, around October of 2009 Amanda found out that her dad has pancreatic cancer and this caused her to move back to Tennessee to be with him. Ever since she left my life kind of fell apart with no one there to help me along the way. Even though it’s not her responsibility to make sure that I’m being respectful, honest, and doing my homework, it is nice to have at least a little help every now and then. She comes home every five or six months to check on our little sister Bailey and me to make sure that we we’re okay and everything is alright at home. She noticed that every time she would leave and come back things got a little bit worse. It isn’t her fault that things are falling apart, it’s me and Bailey’s fault for letting them fall apart. When she left to go and be with her dad, everything in my whole world fell upside down and went the opposite direction that it was going. But she told me “every thing is going to be okay, I’ll be back soon, just take care of your little sister.”
“Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habits. Watch your habits, they become character. Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” Amanda has always s told me that the way I act determines what kind of person I am. If I’m out of control, sometimes it sends off the wrong vibe and people won’t want to be my friend, so she’s always told me to watch the way I act.
Sometimes when I’m alone, thinking about her, I ask myself, “What type of person would I be, what kinds of things would I do and where would I be in life without her here to help me?” So over the years I’ve realized if Amanda’s ever yelled at me for something, whether it’s stupid or not, it’s not because she hates me or anything, it’s because she’s trying to help me become a better me.