Suddenly, there you were. The moment I looked in your eyes and knew, I would love you forever. The eighteen hours spent in the waiting area all became worth it. You weren’t even mine, but somehow I knew you’d become a part of me. Your first breath, your first cry, your first smile, I was there for it all. It’s hard to believe that was six years ago. So much has changed since then. Pretty much everything, in fact, except what you mean to me. It was such a life changing experience to learn at such a young age that someone could become a part of you without actually being a part of you. You were born my cousin but soon became my sister.

May 5^th, 2010, 10:00 A.M. Stressful situations always made me a bit jumpy. Mama and I just made the 45-minute trip to Laurens County Memorial Hospital. We had been waiting on your arrival for months now, and the feeling of knowing you would be here so soon was almost surreal. We walked inside and spoke to the pretty woman at the front desk. She said your mom is in room 319 and we could go straight up to visit her. Her soft smile as she tapped her pen on the desk suddenly, for some reason, filled my heart with more excitement. Were you really going to be here so soon? We waited for the elevator to come down. Should it take this long to come down three floors? It finally reached our level and I let out a small sigh of relief. Why did I feel so stressed about such a happy moment? Our mom and I stepped on the elevator. As she pressed the button beside the small “3,” I clicked on her phone to check the time. 10:10. Could that be as much luck as 11:11?

The elevator suddenly dinged and we stepped out onto the third floor. Our mom asked one of the nurses to point us in the direction of room 319. The nurse used her right hand to point down the hallway and said it was on the left. We kindly thanked her and made our way towards the room. We walked in and your mom was tense with pain. Our mom looked at me and whispered, “Contractions.” Whatever that meant. I sat down in the chair in the corner of the room and took in everything that surrounded me as both moms engaged in conversation about how your mom felt. Our mom asked if there was anything your mom needed and your mom suddenly flinched and was in pain again. This time I looked at our mom and said, “Contractions?” She chuckled at me and told me it was time to go find my grandma in the waiting area.

I walked in and grandma grabbed me and wrapped her arms around me. She told me I had really grown, even though she had just seen me a month ago. She and our mom started talking about how long they thought it would be until your mom had you. Grandma said soon, but I had my doubts. If you were anything like me, you’d be late. We sat around and talked for what ended up being hours. I started complaining to our mom about how hungry I was and we went down to the food court in the hospital. It was going on 5:00 and you still weren’t here. What was taking you so long? As I waited in line for my food, I wondered what you’d look like. Would you have green eyes like me? Would you look anything like me? Would you even like me? I got my food and sat down with my family. Everyone kept asking me if I was excited. Of course, I was excited. So excited that I barely ate any of my food, not that it was any good anyway. We all finished eating and headed back up to the waiting area where we had been sitting earlier. Hour after hour went by and I grew restless. What were you waiting for? Our mom looked at me and could tell I was growing impatient. She bent down and whispered in my ear, “She’ll get here quicker if you take a nap.” I looked at her, smiled, and decided to give it a chance. I laid down and dreamt about us being best friends. What a coincidence.

I awoke to our mom shaking my arm. “Alli! Alli! Wake up! Your cousin is here!” I jumped right up as if I was never asleep. Tears of joy filled my eyes and a huge smile grew on my face. Finally. We walked to your room and I thought our mom was walking like an old woman, taking forever to get to where you were. As we made it to your room, we walked in, and my eyes landed straight on you. I’m sure I’ve never seen anything as perfect as you, in that moment. So angelic, just lying there in the arms of your mom. Your head full of hair, your beautiful brown eyes, your tiny little hands and feet, you couldn’t have been anything more. Your mom looked over at me and asked if I wanted to hold you, I was so distracted by you that I didn’t even hear her. Our mom told me to sit down and she placed you in my arms. You looked up at me and made eye contact. Just like that, you had me hooked. I knew that I was going to be wrapped around your finger from that moment on. I will never forget that soft smile, the warmth of your little body pressed against mine, your tiny little hand wrapped around my finger. That day was the greatest moment of my life. Kylee Shyanne Cantrell. 4:46 A.M. Welcome to the world.

As things would turn out, Kylee would become a bigger part of my life than I could’ve ever imagined. When she was ten days old, she came to stay with my family, and never really left. Here we are six years later and she’s no longer my cousin, she’s my little sister. I knew from the moment I looked into her eyes that she was destined to become a big part of my life. That dream I had about us being best friends the night before she was born? That became a reality. She’s taught me so much. How to love even when, at times, I don’t really want to. How to open my heart and be vulnerable; however, the most important lesson I think she’s taught me is that sometimes the best things in life don’t start out being yours at all.