| Pure Admiration “Tory Sputterspark, You’re next to read your report,” Tory gets up and takes her papers to the front of the room. Standing facing the classroom, she clears her throat. “My report on whom I admire most is for my Dad.” The teacher seems upset because the assignment was to report on people whom they didn’t know! Tory began her essay, “I admire my father the most of any person in the world because of his bravery and strength. This school district has been familiar with the Sputterspark’s since it’s founding. All my family attended here, that is, almost all my family. My father had kids that never made it to live in this world. Two years after my birth, my father has told me, I had a sister, Tammy. I never knew. He said I was there and that I met her, but I was too young to remember. My little sister Tammy died because her heart was not strong enough to support her. Then when I was 4, my parents were expecting again. The only thing I remember was being in the hospital and my Daddy came to get me with sad, watery eyes and a quivering lip. He tried the best he could not to cry and to keep face. Hand in hand, he led me to a room where there was a high cradle. He looked in, resting his hands on the sides. I tried to look, but it was too high for me. My Dad picked me up and held me so I could peer in to see my brother. I remember my Dad talking to me, and I heard a name. He called this baby Tucker. I reached in and took my little brother’s hand. It was so small and soft. He looked like my Dad. After that I don’t remember anything else of Tucker. The next thing I knew was that my brother Timason and I were playing. Then it occurred to me; where was Tucker. I went to see my parents and asked about Tucker. They started to cry. I walked closer and tried to comfort them. It seemed to me that Tucker was always there, even though he wasn’t. Then my mother scooped me up and sat me between her and my father. They said that they were expecting again. And eight months later, my twin siblings were born; Emilia Airheart and Thomas Edison. I love my twin siblings dearly and I am terribly grateful for their survival. So, the four of us lived happily for another four years, until my parents were once again, expecting a child. It died before it was even born and we were all upset. I, personally, was looking forward to a new sibling.” Just then, the rest of the Sputterspark family was looking in through the doorway, behind Tory. The teacher made no move, but looked at the family and the conversion was that they should stay where they were and to listen. “I got the chance again to look forward to a baby brother or sister when my parents were expecting a year and a half later. My new sibling was born, but there were major problems with it. I say ‘it’ because there was no distinction of what my sibling was. I was there for my sibling; I was 15 years old and I held Piper when it died. My family doesn’t know that I named Piper because of what my Dad said about Tammy; that I shouldn’t get attached to what I can’t have. I didn’t care. I needed to name Piper. After all, it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all and I loved Piper. Then my youngest sister Candice was born two years ago. She, like myself, isn’t all that normal. I’m a combination of my father and mother, something like a hairless cat, and Candice is a tailless cat with two different colored eyes. We can feel for one another, but she’s not totally aware that I’m her oldest sister, yet, for she is only two! I’d change nothing about the twins; however, I do wish that Tucker replaced Tim sometimes. Like a regular ol’ sibling, Timason gets on my nerves. “When I think about all the lives that came, and some that went, in my lifetime, I can’t help but love them all. I know this is an essay on why I adore my father, but you have to feel for him, being what he went through to give my own life meaning. I admire him for being strong at heart, to overcome the pain of lost children. He’s also strong for myself and for my living siblings. He’s gone through heartache, domestic disputes, and legal disputes. He’s sacrificed for us, and I admire him for that. I wish I could be just like him. I have pure admiration for my father, Elmo Sputterspark.” Her essay was over. “Oh Tory!” Her father walks in, teary eyed, and hugs his oldest daughter. She hugs back, willingly, in front of her twelfth grade English class. “Oh, my baby girl, I love you so,” “I love you too, Dad,” The Tory’s mother walked in and hugged her daughter, as well. The End |