a warped view

I have always been fiercely protective of the people I love, sometimes to my own detriment, sometimes more than those people want me to be. I have never let my sex, my age, my role or my place in the world stop my for standing up for someone. This is particularly true of my mum. She is a strong, independent, smart, wonderful woman, my role model in most things. Growing up there was mostly just her and me. I say that but we had a very close relationship with my grandparents, my cousin lived with us for almost 10 years and my (half) sister from my dad's second marriage spent an inordinate amount of time with us, but in my mind and my heart, when I think of my childhood I think of the two of us together against the world. She raised me to be strong, to stand up for what is right and just, to treat all people equally, to be kind, compassionate and giving and that above all else, family comes first. She also taught me that friends can be our family as much as those we are bound to by ...

I consider myself an only child. I will tell people I am an only child. This of course leads to confusion when I then, at some later date, mention something about my sister. You see, when I was about 2 years old my parents separated and later divorced. I have no memories of my parents as a couple, no memories of the three of us as a family unit, none of my own anyway. My dad remarried and when I was 5 my sister was born. Technically she is my half-sister (as we share half the same parentage) but it is not a distinction I make in my mind (or my heart). So why then do I insist on telling people I am an only child? It's not because my sister doesn't count, as I love her more than words could ever say and would do anything for her. It's because it is my state of mind. I was raised by a single mother as her only child, I saw my dad on a regular irregular basis but I'm sure he would readily agree that it was my mother who raised me. For those of you who are an only child...