One of the most pivotal moments in my early childhood was the day I met my brother. I think about this day a lot, whenever I think about Joey as a little kid. I was around six-years old when my mom, who I had been living with for a couple months already, decided to take me on a trip to the South Hill Mall. I didn't go into any of the stores and just walked around the halls, kicking my feet and jumping away from the cracks. She had gotten me a Wendy’s frosty for the first time, so I felt super energetic, even though it was close to six o'clock at night. When we got to the middle of the mall, there was an indoor playground, with soft statues and little log slides and carpeted floors. When we reached the gate, she motioned for me to go in. There were maybe fifteen kids in the playplace, with parents along the outside watching.

I remember feeling sad because I didn't have anyone I knew to play with. I asked kids around me to go down slides with me and play games, and they agreed. Eventually, I remembered where I was and looked around for my mom, and started panicking when I couldn't see her. Then I saw her talking to a different set of parents. I had never seen my mom do that, unless she had already known them before. When she saw me looking she waved, and I walked over.

She told me,“Hailey, do you see that boy over there with the striped shirt and dino shoes?”She pointed and I nodded. “Why don't you go play with him.”

I did as I was told, but was very confused. I was never told who to play with, and this boy was very quiet. He stared at me wide eyed when I asked to play, and I realized he was younger than me, his cheeks were chubbier and he spoke more like a baby. We played for a bit, and he sat down and threw a ball back and forth. He would grab onto my shirt when we would walk to different play toys, like he didn't want to get lost. I glanced over at my mother, and she was still talking to those parents, and, after what felt like forever, I asked the boy to follow me. I was hungry and wanted to see if it was time to go home.

When I approached my mother, she smiled at me, and so did the other parents. When I got to my mom, the boy let go of me and ran to the other adults and clung to them. That started making sense to me why my mom asked me to go play with him now. She explained to me that that was my brother, but it didn't make sense to me. How could that be my brother if we didn't know each other? The other adults tried talking to me, but I didn't really listen to them.

I asked Mom for food, and we went to the food court and sat down. As I waited for my food the adults introduced themselves to me as Heather and Guy. They were nice to me, and the boy did not want to leave their side. We finished our meal, and after a short conversation between my mom and the parents, we walked back to the car. My mom asked me a lot of questions, the biggest one being if I wanted to spend more time with Joey, the boy. I told her I didn't know.

I spent the next couple days thinking about it. I told her yes, and a couple days later he moved in with us, and now I can't imagine him not being part of my life.

© Hailey. All rights reserved. If you are interested in quoting this story, contact the national team and we can put you in touch with the author’s teacher.