You're Right

Sometimes life seems to be so unfair and cruel and you question why bad things happen to good people.   My sister Mary Magdalene was twenty-three years old and just starting junior college and worked part time and seemed to be on the right track of a bright future.  In September of 97’, Mary Magdalene started to feel sick but it took over six months before we got a diagnosis of her illness.

I remember on February 14, 1998 my mom and sister came home from the neurologist and told the rest of our family that Mary was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.  At that time we did not understand the severity of the disease because none of us ever heard of Multiple Sclerosis.  From that day on, Mary life was going to change dramatically and unbeknownst to us so would our lives too. I remember as my sister started her steroid treatments and taking up to 15 different pills a day and take daily injection. After a year of her diagnosis, she had a complete nervous break down.  However, Mary Magdalene came back and was determined not to let MS bring her world to a stop. 

At times Mary struggled with depression and she would say to me,
      “I am going to die before you because I have MS.”  There was a thirteen-year difference between my sister and I and I would look at her and answer back,
     ”Oh yeah, Well I prove you wrong, I will go and play in the freeway to prove to you that I can die before you.”  Mary would laugh and let me know how stupid I was acting and just smile.  I then said,      “You know Kiddo, only God know when we are going to die and it doesn’t matter if you have MS or not,” “No, no your wrong, I am going to die before you cause I have MS,” she said and start to cry.  For years Mary would bring up death and I would bring up my freeway adventure.

As time passed and the MS started to slowly taking over Mary’s life, I still would not concede to my sister’s statement of her dying before me.

Two weeks before my sister passed away I came to accept what my sister had been saying for years. If I closed my eyes I could see my sister’s face and hear her say “I am going to die before you because I have MS.” 

 I went into my sister’s bedroom I sat right next to her hospital bed and said,
     “Mary I have something to tell you.”  My sister slowly turned her head and looked at me with her huge brown eyes. 
     “You are right, you were right all along.”  With the look on her face, she knew exactly what I was talking,
     “I can’t go play in the freeway, who will take care of mom and dad? You were right and I was wrong,it looks like you are going before me.  I just wanted to let you know that you were right.  I love you Mamas, and I'm going to miss you when your gone,”
Mary looked at me smiled then we both started to cry.   My mom had been diagnosed with Parkinson six years ago so along with caring for my sister; I would help my dad with my mom. 

I had to let MaryMagdalene know that I was wrong and she was right even though for years I would not believe or accept what she had told me for years; I just couldn’t bring myself to accept the fact that I may have to live without my younger sister.   Mary Magdalene was slowly dying  before our eyes because the complications of MS just kept growing and we had no way of stopping it from happening.