My whole life, I have been known as the strong one, independent, stubbornly doing everything on my own.
The one who never needed anyone. But I don’t want that for my sister.
I don’t want her strength to trap her until she finally bursts. I don’t want her independence to make her suffer in silence. I don’t want her to carry everything alone when she has the right to share the weight.
I don’t want her kindness to turn into sacrifice at the cost of her own joy. I don’t want her to believe that asking for help makes her a burden. I don’t want her to shrink just to fit into an environment that doesn’t deserve her light.
I don’t want her to fly just because others expect her to, or to fall just because they tell her she must. I don’t want her to know heartbreak so deep it keeps her in bed for years, fighting battles no one else sees.
All I want is for her to be who she wants to be not who society wants, not who our parents want, not even who I want. Whatever and whoever she becomes, I will be her number one cheerleader. My love will never depend on who she turns out to be, only that she is true to herself.
Because if “strength” comes at the cost of her happiness and peace, then I’d rather she be nothing at all than become something defined by the world.
Aalmaa 