My hate of the letter S became the love of my life.
By Sabeeha S.
Growing up I've never looked at this letter S in a negative way, it was always just a regular letter from the alphabet. Until I came across Abigael Mack's essay about her hate for the letter S and it hit me, I realized how much I related to it. Back home in Fiji, I never had friendS I just had a friend. When the teacher would ask us to describe the people who take care of us at home, everyone would talk about their two parentS, when I only had one to talk about. As I look back to when the letter S impacted other people's lives and made it plural, while mine was still singular. I didn't experience the feelingS they had when they would say “I have dinner with my parentS”. But in my young 7 year olds world, I would go home after school, waiting for my single mother to come home so we could have dinner and that would be me having dinner with my parent. Normal families had ONE fathers day and ONE mothers day, but I had TWO mothers days, the extra day is to fill in the figure I didn't have in my life. The letter S would always trail behind me, leaving steps to remind me of what I never had.
Little me, sitting in class at my desk, hearing my classmates rant about how they hate their siblingS, and I would ask why? Their answer would be, it's what siblings do. Yet again, another reminder of what I didn't have. Some may say, girls who grow up without a father figure in their lives end up in a ditch, they end up being toxic, addicted to drugs and fool around with boys, but my story was different, I had a mother who taught me what it takes to be independent, she taught me my values, she directed me to a path where I could be successful without anyone's help. Even though my mother played both roles for me, yet again, that loathsome letter S lingered around me leaving reminders of what I didn't have.
When I was 9, my mother had finally found her one true love, which came with two sons who eventually became my brothers and my best friends. I could then experience what “normal” kids felt and at last could relate to them. I finally had a father figure in my life that taught me how to play sports which are now a big part of my life. I had a father figure that taught me how to drive, how to kick a ball, how to run properly, I finally had a father figure that loved me. I had brothers who promised to protect me till the day I die, who took me out for my birthdays, who would wrestle with me in the living room, brothers who would push me into the pool by surprise, I finally had siblingS who loved and cared for me. Maybe the letter S knew about my future. Maybe the letter S trailed behind me and followed each step of mine because S knew what life was going to be like for me. Maybe S knew that if S stopped following me, I wouldn't have what I have now. Maybe S was my guide all along.
—Inspired by Abigael Macks' “I hate the letter S” –essay.