Blog 44

When I was in high school, I would always hang out with my friend Sarah after school. We would basically just relax on my couch and watch TV, pretty much the only thing I had planned as far as after-school activities go. I started to notice a pattern in these after school hangouts. Sarah would inevitably receive a phone call, remain on the line for about a minute, and then quickly hang up. She would say something had come up and she needed to leave. I was confused as to why she was leaving so abruptly, but I didn’t question it. Eventually I couldn't overlook the puzzling situation, and I decided to confront her about it. Upon my confrontation, Sarah told me that her mom was an alcoholic. The phone calls she was receiving were from her little brother and sister, pleading her to come home. At that moment I realized Sarah was much more of an adult that I had ever imagined. Because her mother had a drinking problem, she had to take up one of the parenting roles in her family. Her father worked all day, so he wasn’t able to take care of Sarah and her siblings until he got home. Until then, it was Sarah’s responsibility to feed her siblings, get them to school and practices on time, and tuck them into bed at night. Even though she was still considered a child herself, Sarah had many more responsibilities than the average 16-year old. Due to the complications in her family, she was forced to behave as an adult and take on adult responsibilities.