My niece Hailey

"I have a really good relationship with my sister" was not always a sentence that I could say honestly. It's true that most siblings fight like ornery rams at some point in their lives. However, my sister Ophelia and I took it to another level. Between my autistic mind set and my sister's bipolar condition, we were constantly at each other's throats more times than not. Sometimes what we had fought over was trivial at best. At least they are now. At the time the things we fought about seemed really important at the time. Then again, all squabbles between siblings usually are. However, the day my niece was born, our relationship had changed for the better.

It all began on August of 2018. Things have been getting tense around the house. My sister had gotten herself a new boyfriend and they kept arguing constantly. At that time, I as planning on moving out with a good friend of mine, Sal, who was working at the Grocery Store I was working for at the time. We were trying finding a new apartment in which we could call our own. Of which we had no luck. For one reason or another, there one of us had. Wither it was with the location of the place, the access of parking to how close we were from our respective field of work, Sal and I couldn't agree on a place.

Shortly after, September rolled around the corner. It was then my sister had decided to tell me that I was going to be an uncle. It was in her car. My parents had told us to pick up Taco Bell for dinner. I had noticed that my sister has eaten a lot of Taco Bell lately. Though, I had decided not to make anything of it. For the last time I had questioned my sister's eating habits, it resulted into another fight.

September progressed as the months usually do. My sister and her boyfriend were still living with my folks at the time and I was still on the hunt for a new place to live. However, due to my sister's pregnancy, she became more hormonal than usual. Which meant that she was more hostile than normal. Whenever she started a fight with me, she would say: "Don't yell at me, I'm pregnant." To which I would reply: "Don't yell at me, I wasn't the one who knocked you up". No matter what we had fought over during that month, each argument had those two lines in them,

Eventually, I had all that I could take. I told everyone (who was in the room with my sister and I at the time): "You know what, I don't need to take this. I'm moving out on my own". I had met with my coworker Sal and told him that I was going to start looking harder for an apartment and see what he came up with. To which he had responded: "I'm sorry, would you mind waiting another year, I want to save my money for a house." To which I responded: "I'm sorry, my sister has been very hormonal since her pregnancy began and I really need to get out of that house." We both understood our point of views and decided to go on our own respective path of living accommodations.

The end of September approach. I was still single at the time. While I wasn't looking for love, I wanted someone to help me get rid of some much needed stress (if you catch my drift). I went to my laptop and went to craigslist to find such a person. However, I had noticed something I have never noticed before, the housing section. Wither it was new or wither I have never seen before because I usually use it to cure my physical appetite's I couldn't tell you. I had clicked on the Apts/housing section and had noticed a place that was reasonably priced all things considered.

It was a basement apartment of a family of four (five if we wish to include the au par who was living with them at the time). The apartment was around $1300 a month, had all of it's utilities included, was exceptionally roomy for a single person, didn't allow smoking on the premise (which is good for someone who despises the smell of cigarettes), was only five minutes away from my parents house and best of all, it came with it's own parking spot. There were some downsides to consider. It didn't have a washer/dryer, the landlord didn't allow me to have any pets and it didn't have a dishwasher. However, I was so in love with the place that I didn't mind those trivial issues. So I met up with Dan (the landlord of the apartment) and told him that I wanted this apartment as my own. After a quick background check, I was approved for the apartment. As such, I could officially move into my new abode the beginning of next month.

The months had passed as one would expect them to do. My relatives and friends got the chance to see my new abode and I finally settled in. It was difficult at first. I was so used to living with an abundance of people, to living in semi isolation. I still fought with my sister from time to time, but the frequency in which it happened had occurred less often. Of course it was due to the fact that my sister and I didn't see each other as much, but still, it was progress.

Birthdays and holidays were better, but the occasional argument had reared it's ugly head. Soon April happened, and my sister gave birth to a little girl. She wasn't as hormonal and I had a new niece to welcome into the world. I couldn't explain it, but somehow I ad a new appreciation for my sister ever since her daughter/my niece was welcomed into this world.

I made sure that my niece got the chance to see me as often as possible. Wither it was with Facetime or in person, I made sure my niece knew her Uncle Tyler. In fact, my relationship with my niece (and therefore sister) made a turn for the better, that I was asked to be apart of my sister's and her boyfriend's (now husband's) wedding a few weeks ago.

True, I wasn't the best man, but knowing that they really appreciated everything I have done to make this relationship turn out for the better, I'll take it as a win. Not to mention, the gifts I got for being a groomsman were pretty snazzy if I do say so myself. That aside, I'm glad everything happened the way it did. For if my sister hadn't gotten pregnant when she did, who knows how our relationship would have ended up.