words from a sister's heart

12/6/11
Raven is my middle daughter, she is best at what ever she stets her mind and heart to,... she said she will not go on to college when she graduates,... but she is taking all the college tests and I found one of her rough drafts for a college app- I wanted to share it, it is a personal statement and .... here it is. 
"My life has been made up of every moment I have lived and every decision I, and those around me, have made. The most influential and poignant moment in my short seventeen years was the birth of my little sister, Jeweliana, or Jewel for short. Jewel was born three months early, and though I was only six years old when she was born, I knew my life-and the life of my family would never be the same.
Jewel was born with cerebral palsy, and ten years has passed since she was born, she still can not sit up,roll,walk, ore even hold her head up by herself. Having a sister with a disability is heartbreaking, but I wouldn't trade her or the experiences our family has had for the world. I learned at a young age that life isn't fair, but you have to keep going. Jeweliana has taught me compassion, strength, kindness, persistence, and most important of all, she has taught me gratitude. Gratitude for all the things I have done, and can do. Jewel taught me to be grateful that I can get up and stand on my own two feet every morning and dress myself, gratitude for being able to brush my own teeth, and hold a pen in my own hand; these small mundane things, which she can only dream of one day being able to do.
I am forever grateful that-amidst the trails and tribulations that come with having a sister so dependent- I can call Jewel my baby sister, my inspiration , my hero. My name is Raven, and I am not the captain of the cheerleading squad, I am not class president, I have never won a science fair, but I have helped raise a child. I have attended hundreds of speech, physical and occupational therapy sessions, and I have taught my sister, against all odds, how to speak. While I haven't been to to a homecoming, or gone away to summer camp, I have volunteered with children with disabilities every summer. I've gotten to watch Jewel make her very first friend and say her first sentence; I have watched her live and thrive, and being her sister has made me the person I am today."