Essay One. Rough Draft. Image

Ariana Brydone-Jack

English 100 

Spring Online

Essay One. Rough Draft.

This image is important to me because it’s a silent bond between siblings. My Daughter and Son share a peaceful right of passage. 

My Daughter, Emma was the baby for 4.5 years. She is very attached to me, but at the same time very independent. She loves action and chaos. She doesn’t like to sit still for too long. Even before Emma was born, we had a special bond. Our relationship started rocky. I really wanted to have a boy, but God had other decisions. There was a plan for Emma. She entered my life with loud lungs. She was so small. I instantly fell in love with my daughter, although my dreams of having a boy was broke, I let the dream drift back to hopes, and accepted my new daughter. 

Fast forward, I became pregnant, but sadly at 11wks, went through a tragic miscarriage from a tubal pregnancy. Emma’s dream of being a big sister were slashed. My husband and I tried for another baby for 7 months before we found out that we were expecting again. 

We told the kids (Emma, has an older sister). In December of 2009, Christian was born. I got my ‘take home baby’. I had a son, I had a baby. It had been so long since I had a baby, to hold a tiny human, a new fresh life. I forgot how newborns smelled. That morning Emma went to school the little sister, however, came home a big sister. The hospital had a new procedure that anyone under the age 14 years, couldn’t come to the hospital, so the news of the new arrival was made of the phone.  I held the phone over my new baby. Emma heard him crying, Emma responded to him, telling him that it was ok and not to cry. I brought Christian home the next morning.  Emma came home from staying with her Grandparent’s, greeted by her new baby brother. It was an instant connection. I felt she had a feeling of responsibility. She carefully rubbed his face and back. She looked him up and down, examining him as if he needed an approval stamp. She found him to be acceptable and gave him a kiss. 

Later on I found Emma laying next to Christian on my bed. Christian was supposed to be sleeping. Emma wasn’t supposed to go into the room. I found the moment priceless. I snapped the picture, and didn’t think about it again. After all, I had hundreds of pictures of the baby by now. After developing the photo, I found the meaning, “a picture is worth a thousand words“. Emma looks so protective and loving. She lays her arm across her brother, letting him know that she is there for protection She quietly smiles at him to let him know that she is there for him. She loves him. He lays there with content. Swaddled in a blanket, a binky in his mouth hushing his whines and calming his needs. Cuddled next to his big sister, he accepts his new position as the youngest child. Emma let him know that she is now his big sister. They have a bond that just ties the two of them. They are forever linked by blood and by heart. They speak a chemical language that only them two can understand.

This picture means a lot to me because it’s catches a moment when my youngest daughter and my youngest son unite. They are both my babies. They will forever be my babies, and they will forever be brother and sister. They have a bond that is unbreakable.