This is me

Writing a piece about myself seems like an extremely pressured task. For starters, it is so very difficult to make a piece which is so personal interesting to others who have not met me before.

I guess I shall start with the steps which led me to who I am today, pretty standard but hopefully effective. People will often describe me as a little too laid back and casual, this meaning that I will often annoy my friends by having an exceedingly messy bedroom and leaving dirty dishes in the kitchen without feeling any particular urgency to deal with the mess. Whilst I completely accept that many are in their right to find this irritating, I on the other hand struggle to see the big deal in a few clothes casually decorating my bedroom floor when what I am used to at home is a sister who delights in decorating her bedroom walls with her own feces!

In many ways my life has been defined by my sister’s severe autism, but not necessarily in the ways in which you would think. I would say that growing up with a sister as wonderfully weird as mine has made me always see things with perspective. In other words, I don’t tend to sweat the small stuff. I actually often feel sorry for those who have never had obstacles in life as they tend to be the sorts of people who do sweat the small stuff and on balance I would say that they’re not as happy for it. I specifically recall occasions where relatives have come to my house and panicked about the fact that their children have gotten their feet muddy and thinking to myself that they’re being ridiculous. Especially as on the same day we would have had to chase my sister up the street whilst she ran in the road completely oblivious to cars traveling at 40 miles per hour swerving to miss her.

Having the family that I have has also defined me in other ways such as I am able to laugh at pretty much any situation. One common misconception about having a severely disabled person in the family is that one must tread on egg shells around me and never mention let alone make a joke out of it. This could not be further from the truth. In fact, I believe that as much as you would make fun of your friends for stupid things they do it would almost be discrimination not to make fun of things my sister has done. I think it hilarious for instance that my sister will get naked whenever she feels the desire and has often done so. One particular time I recall was my grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary for which they invited all the family including relatives who I have never before met (the stiff upper-lipped types), we were all sitting together in the living room when my sister ran completely naked into the room cackling to her heart’s content. To my great aunts and uncles who are exceedingly posh, seeing a 23 year old girl running unashamedly into the room completely naked was not something they had the ability to deal with so they just stood there not knowing at all what to do. It was so funny! I also recall another time when we were visiting Hampton Court Palace and my sister had a sudden urge to use the toilet so without warning started to run in the direction of the men’s. Instinctively, I ran after her and ran into the men’s toilets just in time to watch as jenny wrenched open a cubicle door and pulled the unsuspecting gentleman out of the toilet so that she could use it! The poor man cast a terrified look in my direction and then ran for it without saying a single word. That is one of my all time favorite stories about my lovely sister Jenny.

I have often discussed the subject of how growing up with Jenny has affected us with my brothers, and they recall similar stories and agree that no one is more ready to laugh at it then themselves as no one has greater affection for Jenny than we do! I think experiences such as these really give you some completely unique perspective on life andmake you able to deal with situations which others are not. Friends have also often told me that they wish they were more like Jenny themselves and I must say they have a point. Whilst she hasn’t always been the happy girl that she is today and things haven’t always been easy by any stretch, Jenny does whatever she wants whenever she wants and doesn’t stop for a moment to worry about what people think of her. She has never used social media in her life and wont be made to do anything unless she wants to and has five family members who love everything she does and wouldn’t have her any other way. What a fabulous way to live!