Chip Chick
A 35-year-old man has a sister named Daniella, who is 2 years younger than he is, and she has something called Rett syndrome.
Rett syndrome is a genetic mutation that impacts the development of a girl’s brain, and it’s extremely rare.
Because Daniella has this, she will not ever be able to live alone, and she requires constant care.
Now, when he was little, he watched as his mom and dad forced his brother Henry to take on the role of parent and caretaker to Daniella.
Henry moved out of the house when he turned 10, and then his mom and dad expected him to pick up the slack.
“I was forced to quit all my extracurriculars,” he explained. “I was never allowed to go anywhere or do anything outside of school hours because they would need someone to complete chores while they were at the hospital with Daniella or look after Daniella while they went out to “have fun.”
“It was very common for them to say things like, “You get to see your friends every day at school. We only get to see ours two nights a week!” They would be out until midnight most times, and I would be on my own taking care of Daniella.”
He wasted no time packing up his things and moving out of the house as soon as he graduated from high school.
After that, he pretty much stopped speaking to his parents, except if there’s an emergency in their family because they just have a one-track mind.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
