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After being hacked to death by my brother–in–law, I was reborn
My sister, Sarah, has cerebral palsy, and her
husband, Mark, is autistic.
They have two kids, both with developmental
issues, but they were trying for a third.
I told Sarah to think long and hard before having another.
She decided not to.
When Mark found out, he grabbed a kitchen
knife and stabbed me to death.
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knife and stabbed me to death.
“Bitch, don’t I deserve a normal son?” he
screamed.
After I died, Sarah begged our mom to write a
letter of forgiveness for Mark.
He didn’t even go to jail.
I woke up again, and Sarah was asking me if
she should have a third child.
Yes, absolutely, have a whole soccer team, I
thought.
I turned and ran. My mom was left crying,
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holding her grandkids.
When they
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trying for their fourth, my
mom finally said, “Don’t have any more.”
The next day, she was found decapitated.
“Hey sis, I’m pregnant again,” Sarah’s familiar
voice echoed in my ears.
My hands trembled uncontrollably.
It felt like the phantom pain of Mark’s knife
was still lingering in my flesh.
Last time, Sarah had asked me the same
question, and I told her to think it through.
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I told her that after rent and living expenses, I
barely had anything left to support her.
Sarah wasn’t happy. She thought I should get
a second job.
In her mind, I was her personal ATM, and my
earnings were hers to spend.
She was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at two. Her intelligence was only slightly below average, and after rehab, she was mostly
self–sufficient.
Mom and Dad decided to have a second child
so someone could take care of Sarah.
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As far back as I can remember, my mom
would say, “We had you because of your
sister’s condition.”
“So, you have to take care of her for us.”
My primary responsibility wasn’t school, but
looking after Sarah. I accompanied her to
school, helped her in the bathroom,
everything.
I didn’t escape that constant care until I went
to college.
My parents, determined to keep me close, insisted I attend the local university and come
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INSISTED Tallene focal university anu come
home every day to care for Sarah.
In college, I started to realize something was
wrong. When I began working, I looked for
ways to detach from them and rented my own
apartment.
Then, Sarah fell in love.
The guy was decent looking, but he had
autism.
Sarah didn’t care. She married him without a
penny of dowry.
“Sis, we’re the same kind of people. I
understand him.”
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“You’ll support me, right?”
Looking at my sister, I admitted to myself that
she’d be hard–pressed to find anyone better.
For their wedding, I gave them eight hundred
dollars. Mom and Dad thought I should have
given more.
At the time, I only had a thousand dollars to my name, and the remaining two hundred was
for rent and living expenses.
They always assumed a college graduate
made a lot of money, that I must be loaded.
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In reality, I made $2,400 as an intern and
$3,000 after getting hired full–time. Buying a burger was a two–day deliberation.
After they got married, neither of them worked. They lived off my parents and wanted
to have kids, to carry on the family name.
After a year of trying, Sarah got pregnant. They were afraid to go to the doctor, worried they’d find something wrong.
Sure enough, the baby was born with autism,
inherited from Mark.
They didn’t give up. The next year, Sarah got
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pregnant again.
This baby inherited Sarah’s cerebral palsy.
Still, they weren’t deterred. They wanted to
keep trying.
Each set of grandparents took one child.
For the third child, Sarah wanted me to help
raise it.
I refused, of course.
This time around, I needed to get away from
these lunatics.
୮
I mumbled, “Have as many as you want. Mom
and Dad are still young, they can help you
with a few more.”
I wasn’t giving them a dime or lifting a finger.
Honestly, if they did have a healthy child, that
kid would have to take care of four disabled
people. It was a terrifying thought.
A newborn saddled with that burden, a life set
on hellish difficulty.
Sarah smiled. “Good. I hope this one is
normal. You started taking care of me at two,
so he can take care of all of us.”
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Sarah spoke slowly, her eyes shining with
hope. She desperately wanted this baby.
I felt an inexplicable pang of sadness.
Taking care of her since I was two? Was that
my choice?
