Life of the Eldest Girl

By Ricardo Ruiz

I started to become their mom.

Before I’d go to school,

I would take my brothers to the

babysitter.

I would get the others dressed

and walk them to school.

After school,

I wouldn’t play sports.

I would have to babysit.

I would clean the house and

make sure they had something for

dinner

before my parents got home.

I found a solution at sixteen:

somebody showed me love

and I decided to go

I left in the night

and got married.

Copyright Credit: Ricardo Ruiz, "Life of the Eldest Girl " from We Had Our Reasons . Copyright © 2022 by Ricardo Ruiz. Reprinted by permission of Pulley Press.