“Never mourn the loss of innocence,
because it always brings the much greater gain of wisdom.”
As the third sibling in line to come from my beautiful parents, I have wisdom beyond my years. I was only nine years old watching my oldest brother go through high school. Innocent Erika, wondering why my brother and his friend are acting so weird after coming home late from their friends house on a friday night. So naive of me to think they were just “tired”. Overhearing my parents' disappointed tone as they ask him where he got it. In my head I asked, “Got what? A new shirt?” My brain was just a sponge, soaking in all this information at such a young age.
Two years later, witnessing my sister have trouble with her friend group over some silly boy. How could she be talking to a boy? They still have cooties. Hearing her cry at night about a picture someone posted of all her “friends” hanging out without her. At eleven years old, I started putting the pieces together before all my peers. Being saturated in all this at such a young age turned “stories” into experiences. Ripening throughout the years, watching my siblings mess up, get hurt, disappoint my parents, and also succeed made me blossom into a beautiful young woman with knowledge past her years.
As I enter these troubling ages I watched my siblings go through, I can’t help but thank them for guiding me. My perspective of maturity has changed since I was little. I was so confused and sad why I was constantly more aware and mature than my friends sitting next to me in art class. I felt like the odd ball because I was not as innocent. Seven years later I cannot help but be grateful for my loss of innocence at a young age because I have so much more wisdom than I would have ever expected. I use this wisdom to my advantage.