My Sister

My name is Monique and one of the things I struggle with the most is my older sister Raquel. My sister Raquel start doing drugs late 90s and my nieces Kalea, Tatiana, Raquel and my nephew Aaron got taken away from her because of it about four years. I was 12 at the time.

I think that is one of my struggles because I used to be really close to my sister and all her kids. When my mother wasn’t doing so good, I would stay with my sister and her baby daddy Travis. My nieces and nephews were like my sisters and brothers – that’s why it hurts so bad that they got took away from her. Not only did they get took from her – they got took away from my family. The only family they get to see is their Dad’s family and I don’t think that’s fair because the only one who did wrong was my sister!

I don’t only blame her for getting her children took away from her – I blame her baby daddy Travis, too. I also blame her mother (we have different moms) because she was on drugs their whole life and is still on drugs. Travis is the one that got them taken away, but, at the same time, he got her hooked on those drugs. They used to live together and they started doing drugs.

My sister got hooked on them but he didn’t, so I feel that he’s to blame, too.

My sister – who is 28 now – is always in and out of jail, stealing from everywhere and the family, and always running away from the drug programs she promises she’ll stay in.

I don’t really take my sister too seriously now, but I will when or if she gets clean. It’s not fair that that’s my family and I am not even allowed to see them.
I hope we can all be a big family again and I will be able to see my nieces and nephews again because I grew up with them.

- Monique