1,000 Words

Reverb11

Prompt for December 7: 1,000 Words: Post a 2011 photo that's worth a thousand words.

This is my younger sister, the one I call "TheFish". The guy is her boyfriend. He has a lip-ring and calls her "dork-o".

I took this picture when I visited TheFish in Oregon for the weekend. We were in a tiny hole-in-the-wall in north Portland. It was one of those places that's a bar and a pizza joint and pool hall all at once. I was drinking a lovely Oregon Pinot Noir and he had a beer called "Got Hops?" which made us all laugh. The picture was an accident; I was trying to adjust the flash settings in my digital camera.

TheFish was the one of the four of us that our father hurt the most. She has every right to be bitter and angry. She has the right to distrust men and suffer from anxiety and depression. I am so grateful that she is healthy, free of the madness that flows through us; that she is able to trust men; that she has a boyfriend who calls her "dork-o" and acts like she hung the moon.

She gives me hope that one day I'll be ok.