I’ve been up since 7:20 and I haven’t gone to sleep. This morning was beautiful…

I got up early cuz my brother missed his bus so I had to take him to
school. Despite it being rainy, still kinda dark and cold, it was
alright. I took him to school and on the way I was admiring the beauty
of fall. The gold and red leaves on the trees, the bright sun
breaking it’s way through the quickly moving clouds, birds flying in
perfect formation. I almost hit a squirrel. When I was halfway to the
school I saw a perfect rainbow in the sky. It was so clearly defined
and it arched over both sides of the sky with all of the colors. It
made me remember how beautiful nature can be. I circled back around to
get a picture of it with my disposable camera, but to my surprise in
the instant it took me to get around the parking lot, it disappeared. I
was inspired by the rainbow and decided to take a longer route home. I
went on Elm and was about the pass the cemetery where my mom is buried.
I couldn’t pass by without a visit on this beautiful fall day so I
drove in, still thinking about the rainbow. At this point in time my cd
full of MP3 folders and thousands of songs began to play no song other
than The Rainbow Connection sung by the Carpenters. When I was younger
that was one of the special songs my mom and I loved and sang
together often. I remember even as I got older and we would sing or
remember the song, she would say, “I love that song, if I die, I want
you to sing it at my funeral.” I’d be looking at her like, do you really think I would be able to concentrate on singing a song if you were dead in my young lifetime?
Of course I couldn’t fathom it. Thinking of that moment between us made
me realize how much I’ve come through since she passed away. I didn’t
sing Rainbow Connection at her funeral, but I sung it at the cemetery.
I just felt like today would be as good a day as any. After being in
the cold air, I took a drive to the nearest Speedway gas station for
some of their good .94 cent cappuccino.

So my brother has joined the Marines. And all I can do from this
point it wait, and try to reassure myself he won’t get himself killed
fighting for this country. Keep him in your prayers for me.

So my 12 year old 7th grade sister approaches me yesterday and says:

“Can I get your perspective on something?”  (yes she actually talks like this, she is my sister ya know. lol)

I say “Sure lil sis, what’s up?”

“There’s this boy that likes me and I like him too and he asked me if I wanted to go out with him and he’s 15.” (15?!?! wtf?!?!)

***I look at her like she’s lost her mind and then some…anyone who
knows me, knows that look, but just multiply it by BIG SISTA/MAMA MODE
times infinity***

“Um, sorry sweetie, but he’s too old for you. What grade is he in? Did he flunk or something?” (2nd red flag, a dumb boy)

“He’s in the 8th grade, he rides my bus and he lives around here,”

“Is he black?”

“No,”

“White?”

“No,”

“Well what? mixed?”

“No, he’s Mexican,” (you know they be havin mustaches at 8)

“Well it really doesn’t matter what he is, so long as he’s 15 and
your 12…ain’t nothin movin. sorry sweetie. A 15 year old is a lil
advanced for you. I mean your body might be developing at an alarming
rate, but your not even old enough to date. He might wanna be your
lil boyfriend, but probably for all the wrong reasons and if
it goes there I will beat the skin off your ass and skin him
alive. Let’s not forget I have a GPS device for ass-kickin’s implanted
in me, so he better not run. My final answer is NO, no “going out” with
the 15 year old boy. No dating til your in high school.”

*sad look on her face, exasperated tone* “okay, okay, I get it.”

“Did you say okay to him already?!”

“No, I told him I’d think about it,”

“mm hmm, well tell him what I said, plus NO one more time,”

“okay, **she expertly changes the subject** what we havin for dinner?”

 

was I wrong ya’ll? Do you think a 15 year old Mexican boy in the 8th
grade has good intentions for my 12 year old sister? This ain’t 1945
where kids get married at 13 and have kids at 15. This is 2005 where
kids start having sex (in 1 form or another) by age 11 and have kids by
12. I’ve seen it happen before. While my sister is smart, she’s still a
pubescent adolescent and when you like someone enough u can get
pressured into doing things u ordinarily might not. She’s too young. I
felt bad for crushing her dreams, but on the other hand, it’s for her
own good. don’t you think?

Rainbow Connected,

Taleia