I know they only wanted the best for her, but they would always use threats of cutting her off to try and motivate her to do better, and this drove her away even more. Every month she would come down to visit, but with every visit the visits lessened, and so did the inches around her waist. She eventually stopped coming home and the only contact I would have with her were drunken, suicidal calls or text messages at two in the morning. After numerous semesters, and getting kicked out of Florida State University five times, she finally received her bachelors and moved back home. She still has yet to find a job, and it's sad to compare, but she is like the Rob Kardashian of the family in this moment. All she does is watch TV in her room and eat cereal. .
I guess my parents were also so tough on her because my oldest sister set the bar pretty high, being a Med. Student at the top of her class. It's probably one of the most irritating and frustrating situations to sit there, while being compared to someone else's success, and this is something I know first hand. This is why I felt a bit of a connection to the story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", by Joyce Carol Oates. In the story the main character fifteen- year old Connie is constantly compared to her older sister June. "June did this, June did that, she saved money and helped clean the house and cooked and Connie couldn't do a thing" (Oates 389). She also says how when her mother is on the phone and she hears Junes name being used the tone is approving, but when she hears her own name all she hears is disappointment in her mother's voice. I know this feeling all too well. Every mother wants her children to be equal, but that's not always the case. Growing up all of my sisters had the same common interests as my mother, and I was more often the odd one out. I would remember every time my mother was on the phone with one of her sister she would use such a proud excited tone when talking about my sisters.