| |
Camilla
and Alessandra
My sister
Alessandra (Ale) is three years younger than me. She hasn’t
got DS but a rare genetic disease which hasn’t been
very well researched. I think it is something like a shorter
gene arm but, if doctors don’t know so much about
it, you can imagine the difficulty I have doing so. Alessandra
is very bright and also a little pest. She can be very aggressive
with some people and super-lovely with others. She can easily
make you lose the little patience you may have remaining
at the end of your day. It is not easy to be around her
because she wants all the attention focused on her and to
achieve that she behaves in a very negative way. My mother
can hardly talk on the phone: Ale doesn’t hardly give
her a chance to.
Even
my brother Stefano (who is notoriously whiter than white)
is not saved from some very rude treatment and swearing
every time they meet each other. In order to avoid him,
Alessandra doesn’t sit at the table for meals with
us. Elena instead, the youngest of us, with her 18 year-old
arrogance, works hard not to be walked over. Sometimes she
(Elena) changes her mind though and tries to be lovely in
her own way. How do we assess this situation? It’s
not so easy to do so.
As usual I lose my temper and patience, but after a while
I change my mind and even feel guilty. I wish I was more
sensitive to Alessandra, my other two siblings, my parents.
I don’t know why I find it so hard to give love to
my family when I feel I’m missing it too.
I can’t
trust Ale as I would trust myself, she is not placid and
quiet. She always tries to make a fool of you. At the same
time though, she is one of the nicest and most creative
people I’ve ever known. She is also sensitive, but
just when she decides to be. She is very selfish, but the
sweetness she uses when she expresses herself is incomparable.
What
can I say? At our place we used to speak in a very over
the top way, but at the end of the day I’ve realised
that I’m much more tolerant (awful word but I couldn’t
think of a better one) and helpful than I thought I was.
So, if I feel I am a better person it is thanks to Ale I
guess and to the fact that I’ve grown up in a large
family. Being the oldest child gave me a strong sense of
overprotectiveness, too. I don’t feel mature: deep
in my heart I feel I am selfish and that the lack of a good
relationship with my siblings comes out from the scarcity
of good examples.
Camilla
15 06 2001
Our experience
|
