His Sister's Keeper

Normally, when you ask someone who their biggest influence/inspiration is in their life, that person will usually use a celebrity that they look up to or their parents, but I have to stray from the societal norm on this one. My biggest inspiration in my life has to be my little brother, Cody. My brother is 6 years younger than me, and having such a big age gap like this can sometimes cause siblings to not be as close. Cody and I could not disagree more with that notion. Not only did we grow up together as normal siblings for a good part of our lives, but we also grew up through major obstacles together. Both of us were diagnosed with hearing loss before we were a mere 2 years old. Now although we were diagnosed with the same disability, Cody got the short end of the stick. I was able to grow up normally with hearing aids and was able to talk at the normal ages. Because of this, I was able to have it easier than my brother had it. Cody got cochlear implants due to him having virtually no hearing at all and wasn't really able to talk until later on in his early childhood years, and because of this, he struggled in school and struggled to interact with others besides his family. As the big sister, it was my job to be there for him when he needed me and I did that to the best of my ability. But little does he know that he has had a tremendous impact on how I perceive the situations I have had to go through in the past 6 months. Before my first year at college, I decided that I wanted to be just like my little brother and get cochlear implants, and the process was very different than what I had expected. When I initially started thinking about getting them, I was very torn because I saw firsthand how my brother had struggled having them and a small part of me was terrified of going through the same thing. But I remember having a conversation with Cody about getting them and it's a conversation I would never forget. He had just gotten brand new implants with bluetooth settings and all of these cool abilities, and he got so excited showing me what he could do with the implants. I also remember him telling me about how he was making good grades and telling me about how good sports were going for him. In that moment, I realized how far he had come from when he first got his implants. Not only was I so proud of him but it also really inspired me to make the decision to get the implants. So I went through my first surgery, and when I got my first implant activated, it was nothing like I had expected or hoped it would be. It wasn't like what I was used to hearing with hearing aids and I began to become very frustrated with it. During this time, my brother really became my rock and my shoulder to lean on because everything I was going through, he had went through as well. This allowed him to really be able to comfort me by letting me know that everything was going the way it should and he reminded me to be patient. I'll be honest, if it wasn't for him being able to share his experience with me, I would not be going through this process with the optimism and excitement that I need to keep moving forward with it because it is a long and trying process that spans from 6 months to a year. But my brother ultimately is the person I look up to, ironically, because of the courage he has showcased even at almost 14 years old. If he can get through it and thrive, then I can too. It is moments like this where God really shows off and shows me why certain people are in my life for the reasons that they are. And I am so thankful to have the strongest, kindest, and bravest little brother on the planet to push me to keep going and be his sister's keeper.