My Unsung Hero

I believe that we all have at least one. Someone who did something incredible for you and you may not even know about it. My unsung hero is my older sister.

My older brother was molesting my sister every time my parents left the house. She quickly learned to hide when my parents left and stay hidden until they returned. That was until I was born. My older siblings were old enough to babysit, so my parents would leave me in their care when they went out. My sister was my primary care giver but when my parents left the house she would go into hiding as normal. My brother would then pinch me, poke me do whatever it took to get me to cry. He did this because he knew my sister would come out of her hiding place to take care of me. When she did, he tormented her and molested her.

My sister always did her best to try and protect me. I have memories as I got older of my sister standing up to my brothers when I became the target of their tormenting. She made sure that my brothers didn't have an opportunity to abuse me up until the time she got married. The brother that had molested her was also married so she hoped that I would be OK. My other brother was the one that abused me.

She didn't tell me about what she had endured until I told her about what had happened to me. As we shared our stories, it struck me that my sister spent a lot of time apologizing for not doing more. Here was a person who was no more than a child at the time and yet she took the responsibility to care for an infant and protect that child as best she could. It is because of her that the abuse I suffered was not as bad as what she suffered. No one could have expected her to do more. I can't think of anyone who is more of a hero to me. How I admire her selflessness and love her for the person that she is.

Who is your unsung hero?