Together by Sidney Garcia

I believe in unity. The sense of togetherness instead of a wide variety of seperate groups. Unlike most people I’ve thankfully experienced at least a small part of a growing picture.


The Summer of 2016 completely changed my life. My father, his wife, and I were on hour number 2 as I dreaded the visit to my stepmothers childhood home. I had already done my research on this relatively small town named Wichita Falls and prepared for the worst. The worst being that this mostly white town would throw my dad and I out before we could even begin to form a sentence.


As we arrived to the front of the seemingly large house, things took a strange turn. There was a man and woman standing in the doorway with huge smiles on their faces. Her parents. “Why were they smiling? Didn’t they know who was getting out of the car?” I thought as I reluctantly stepped out of the vehicle. That’s when it happened, both of them made straight shot towards me. As they simultaneously wrapped their long arms around me, I got the feeling that they didn’t want to let go. At that moment red alarms went off in every part of my body. What? No glaring looks or name calling? None of things I prepared for took place. I felt like such an idiot.


The whole time I was there my stepmothers family was nothing but nice to me. They weren’t the only ones either, the neighborhood kids, the people at their church, even people at the swimming pool were the complete opposite of what I expected. Not once did I feel singled out or different. They didn’t treat me like a black girl; they treated me like a person. They treated me like I was one of them.





I guess it’s sort of sad that a ten year old child would have to “prepare for the worst” just because he or she looks different, but my time there really showed me that there are people who don’t see color. Knowing this has helped me be more trusting to those who don’t look the same as me. I’ve learned to accept myself and others who strive be the best both I and we can be. Together.