The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond XXXIII

LEAH MEDINA
AARON COHEN, TEACHER
Blackstone Elementary School, Boston, MA
There are times when life throws you down so hard, it hurts to get back up.
I know, because I have experienced it.
At first, my life was pretty normal. I mean, I was just a kid, and my parents
made a normal and sustainable amount of money. But back then, I was the
only child. Things were different. Very different. As I grew older, I was no
longer the only child, and I got less and less attention. It was hard to accept.
I mean, I was a big sister now. I had new things to take care of and more
responsibilities.
A few years have passed, and now I have three siblings. Sometimes it’s hard to
deal with them all. I have to watch them, change their diapers, help them with
things they can’t do, and even sometimes cook for them. This is a lot of
responsibility. I take on a lot of jobs for my siblings. It’s hard because I have
always been the oldest. I’ve never had a sibling watch over me and help me out.
It’s hard to show love that you’ve never experienced or received. Sometimes,
I feel like I’m doing a bad job. I’m always scared I’m going to let them down.
I sometimes feel as if I already have.
“SO, FOR ME, COURAGE
IS NOT ABOUT WHAT
HAPPENED IN THE
PAST. IT’S ABOUT
WHAT’S COMING IN
THE FUTURE.”
I started to get extremely mad—but not at her. At myself. I knew that what I did
was horrible. I could never forgive myself for it.
“No! It’s not okay!” I yelled.
That all happened almost two years ago. I’m still mad at myself for what
happened. But I’ve learned that that’s all in the past. What’s more important is
the future. It took a lot of courage to forgive myself for what happened that day.
So, for me, courage is not about what happened in the past. It’s about what’s
coming in the future.
One day, in summer 2022, I was playing at the waterpark at Six Flags. It was
summer vacation, and I was playing with my family, but then my mom told me
to watch my four-year-old little sister. I thought to myself, No big deal, I’ll just
watch her from over here! This was probably one of the worst ideas of my life.
I was just playing around for a while, then it hit me. I realized that I hadn’t
looked at her in a while. As soon as I turned my head, she wasn’t there.
I was terrified, so I jumped into the water and started to look for her. She was
completely out of my sight and nowhere to be found. I started to cry and blame
myself. But then I saw a hand sticking out of the water that looked just like hers!
I ran as fast as I could and pulled her out. I used all my force to bring her up to
the surface. Water splattered all over the deck. She gasped for air as I pulled her
close and gave her a hug.
“I’m so sorry, I will never let you out of my sight again!” I said as tears filled
my eyes.
“It’s okay,” she said, out of breath.
THE COURAGE OF CHILDREN: BOSTON AND BEYOND
VOLUME XXXIII
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