Change Comes With A Cousin's Mistake

My cousin's pregnant, we just found out yesterday. It was such a shock. She's only a year older than me, sixteen. I guess history is repeating itself with her. You think she would have learned from my sister's mistake. I hurt for her, to have her life so rudely interrupted. She has dreams and aspirations, but at sixteen, with a baby, they're circling the drain. She's only a junior in high school, with a long way to go before graduation. I'm not sure how she'll cope with the late hours and homework. A baby is a big responsibility, one that no one is ready for at sixteen. She has her whole life ahead of her, and yet the rest of that life will revolve around the baby, there isn't time for you. I hope she doesn't end up like my sister is, mad at the world, neglecting her son. Even a mistake deserves better than that.1

I used to be really close to my cousin, she was my favorite. We only saw each other once a year, but we always picked up right where we left off. We were inseparable, joined at the hip. She was the triplet to our set of twins. Slowly, we've been growing apart, as she joins a crowd that I don't approve of, and doing things I would never dream of doing. And now she lives in a world completely different from my own. She's joined my sister in that universe where I can never follow, a place where I can never quite reach her to wipe the tears away.2

I've lost a sister, and I've lost a cousin. I'll never quite be the same, but no one will ever be able to tell.3