Swinging on the swing set in her backyard, Christie yelled to her mom to push harder. As she reached the top and spread her legs in the air, she felt as if she was flying. It was exhilarating. Afterwards as they went to get some ice cream, chocolate chip in cookie dough, her favorite, the smile never left her face and at the end Christie hugged her mother and said "Today was the best, I love you mom". "I love you too baby, always" her mother replied and she felt deeply satisfied, for there is no greater joy in the world than seeing your child happy.
Coming back from a week long business trip, Christie's father felt beyond tired but all the fatigue left his body when he saw Christie run towards him, leap into his arms and give him a big hug. It had become their tradition for her to be the first one to welcome him. The day he was supposed to come back, Christie would suddenly develop a stomach ache so that she would be let out of school early and she could come back home to greet him. And her father loved her more than life itself.
Whatever it was - a small scrape on the knee, a passing cold or chicken pox, Christie had both her parents by her side, day in and day out. She felt lucky, none of the other kids at school had such caring parents. What more could a 7 yr old want in life.
Well, just a thing more, for her parents to stop fighting. It had almost become a hobby for them, whenever they were not working or with Christie, they didn't let a single second go without launching into one battle or another. In every nook and cranny of their house voices could be heard, screaming long after the fight had ended.
Christie sat on her bed, holding her favorite teddy bear and covering Mr. Buttons ears, hoping he didn't hear anything, after all he was too young to know mom-dad didn't get along. But as soon as she would hear footsteps coming up the staircase, she would crawl under the bed covers and pretend to be asleep. Seeing their daughter sleep peacefully, her parents would leave satisfied.
But over the years making sure Mr. Buttons remained unaware, Christie herself heard every single word of every argument.
Growing up to be a teenager the only thing she never understood was why her parents stayed together all those years, when it was impossible for them to even look at each others face. Separately they were wonderful people and parents but together they only created havoc. Just if, they had separated when she was young, they would have found bliss for themselves and could have provided for her two healthy, though slightly empty but happy homes. Instead of the broken one she currently lived in.
To outsiders they looked like a perfect family, bonded by love but in reality Christie despised being home for dinner, because she knew everyone would plaster on their fake smiles and joyous faces for that half an hour but go back to sulking the minute she left the room.
In the fall, when she entered 8th grade, Christie was running down the stairs one evening in a hurry to meet her friends for a movie. That's when her right foot slipped on one of the steps and she rolled down, landing head first. Her face was soaked in a pool of her own blood when her parents found her.
They immediately took her to the hospital. Two days later, after her surgery when she woke up, the doctor told Christie that she came back fighting death. Being anemic since birth, she was lucky they were able to recover all the blood that was lost.
The words "anemic since birth" echoed in her mind, she didn't know she had a medical condition. Then it all became clear to her, her frequent trips to the doctor, her parent's concern over little injuries, their constant disputes over money which she now knew were over medical bills and most importantly the reason for them staying together - HER.
Coming back from a week long business trip, Christie's father felt beyond tired but all the fatigue left his body when he saw Christie run towards him, leap into his arms and give him a big hug. It had become their tradition for her to be the first one to welcome him. The day he was supposed to come back, Christie would suddenly develop a stomach ache so that she would be let out of school early and she could come back home to greet him. And her father loved her more than life itself.
Whatever it was - a small scrape on the knee, a passing cold or chicken pox, Christie had both her parents by her side, day in and day out. She felt lucky, none of the other kids at school had such caring parents. What more could a 7 yr old want in life.
Well, just a thing more, for her parents to stop fighting. It had almost become a hobby for them, whenever they were not working or with Christie, they didn't let a single second go without launching into one battle or another. In every nook and cranny of their house voices could be heard, screaming long after the fight had ended.
Christie sat on her bed, holding her favorite teddy bear and covering Mr. Buttons ears, hoping he didn't hear anything, after all he was too young to know mom-dad didn't get along. But as soon as she would hear footsteps coming up the staircase, she would crawl under the bed covers and pretend to be asleep. Seeing their daughter sleep peacefully, her parents would leave satisfied.
But over the years making sure Mr. Buttons remained unaware, Christie herself heard every single word of every argument.
Growing up to be a teenager the only thing she never understood was why her parents stayed together all those years, when it was impossible for them to even look at each others face. Separately they were wonderful people and parents but together they only created havoc. Just if, they had separated when she was young, they would have found bliss for themselves and could have provided for her two healthy, though slightly empty but happy homes. Instead of the broken one she currently lived in.
To outsiders they looked like a perfect family, bonded by love but in reality Christie despised being home for dinner, because she knew everyone would plaster on their fake smiles and joyous faces for that half an hour but go back to sulking the minute she left the room.
In the fall, when she entered 8th grade, Christie was running down the stairs one evening in a hurry to meet her friends for a movie. That's when her right foot slipped on one of the steps and she rolled down, landing head first. Her face was soaked in a pool of her own blood when her parents found her.
They immediately took her to the hospital. Two days later, after her surgery when she woke up, the doctor told Christie that she came back fighting death. Being anemic since birth, she was lucky they were able to recover all the blood that was lost.
The words "anemic since birth" echoed in her mind, she didn't know she had a medical condition. Then it all became clear to her, her frequent trips to the doctor, her parent's concern over little injuries, their constant disputes over money which she now knew were over medical bills and most importantly the reason for them staying together - HER.
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