The image to the left is of my older cousin, Shanon, and I when I was around 3 years old. Every time I saw Shannon I would beg her to french braid my hair. She always happily obliged and would tell me to go and grab a fork because as it is said in the Little Mermaid, a fork is for brushing hair. Shanon is my oldest cousin on my Dad’s side and the only other girl. When I was younger I watched everything that she did very closely, dreaming of the day I could grow up to be just like her.
The picture to the right is of me french braiding my younger cousin, Lydia’s, hair this past summer while in Hawaii. When I grew older Shanon taught me how to braid hair and I now have become like her, always happily braiding my little cousin’s hair.
On my mom’s side of the family, the granddaughters outnumber the grandsons, 5 to 3. However, Lydia and I have only brothers. The day the picture of Lydia and I was taken, she looked at me and said, “Mikaela, you are like my big sister since I don’t have one”. I realized more than ever, that I was Lydia’s Shanon. Her sister. Her role model. As she grows up she will come to me for advice that feels too awkward to share with a mother, and she already has. She asks me about boys and what clothes look good together, and how she should wear her hair.
As I grew up, I realized I was very different from my older cousin Shanon, and she was not someone I could confide in. I still love my cousin and enjoy being able to see her, but I hope that as Lydia continues to grow, she will be comfortable coming to me with anything. These sets of pictures are very important to me as they remind me that just as I once had my cousin to look up to, I am now that cousin that little eyes watch upon, wanting to be just like me. I hope that I am a solid role model for Lydia, the sister neither of us has ever had. Just as Lydia said, we don’t have sisters, but we do through each other.
from Ciera,
ReplyDelete● Mikaela
○ Hey man! I absolutely loved this, I loved the heart behind it! Knowing both you and Lydia and your guy’s relationship, I was able to understand that feeling of wanting to be a role model for her. The mirroring of the images you included was also a very nice touch. In things to improve on, maybe giving some more imagery to what you were feeling when Shannon braided your hair? This would just enhance your later idea of being a role model for Lydia. There’s not much more to comment on, it was really great!
from Lindsay,
ReplyDeleteMikaela:
I love that you used an older picture and a newer picture in this exercise. Also, the connection from something you experienced as a child that you are now passing onto your younger cousin. It makes me happy to think of family traditions like that, through something simple like braiding hair that leads to so much more of a bond. I am glad that Lydia has someone to look up to in you for advice and guidance through life, it makes me think of my older sister. For constructive criticism, there were some sentences I noticed structurally that seemed a little long and maybe could be broken up into more than one to flow differently. Another would be that, maybe you could have elaborated more on some of the description behind the photos, but otherwise I really enjoyed your piece!