When I was 4 years old, my mom had a miscarriage.
I was so excited about having a baby brother that I became upset. I didn’t understand why I was going to remain an only child. As I got older, I always felt like something was missing. Perhaps it was loneliness, or holding out for hope for a sibling.
Sixteen years later, I don’t think of myself as an only child anymore, and through this, I learned that although God may not give you exactly what you want when you want it, God has a plan for everyone and knows what we need and when we need it.
My family and I have been die-hard Georgetown lacrosse fans since my cousin played there when I was in elementary school. In 2010, Georgetown gained a new Canadian player, Travis. One fall day in 2012, at the Play for Parkinson’s Lacrosse Tournament, my life changed forever. My parents went up to Travis to say, “Hi” and to ask him how school was, and they instantly hit it off, like they had known each other forever. Two months later, my mom emailed Travis, asking him to sign a poster for me for Christmas. My parents surprised me by taking me to Travis’s house to have him sign it.
The simple “Hi” at a lacrosse tournament turned into a beautiful relationship. Ever since then, we have cheered him on at every home game, traveled to away games and even cooked him and his roommate's pasta. Travis became a huge part of our lives as we “adopted” him. Travis completed our family. Travis needed us and we needed him. He needed us as he dealt with being far away from his home and family, along with the pressure of Division I athletics.
Saying goodbye to Travis as he graduated and went back to Canada was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. It’s really hard not having him 15 minutes away. I’ve grown up around Georgetown lacrosse, and it’s like a part of me. Every time I pass by the lacrosse field or see something that reminds me of Travis, a thousand memories come rushing back at me, and I wish I could go back in time just for a minute to watch him play or be around him. I remember how scared I was when saying goodbye to him. I knew things would never be the same again. We’d drift apart, we’d fade, we’d become just a memory to each other. But Travis proved me wrong. Despite the distance, Travis and I have grown closer than ever before.
People always ask me, “Do you have siblings?” and I just laugh and tell them “Well, I’m technically an only child, but I don’t consider myself an only child because I have an 'adopted' Canadian brother.” And then I tell them the story.
I don’t think of myself as an only child anymore, and I think that my life story would be incomplete without Travis. I always think about how people’s decisions can affect others. What if Travis hadn’t gone to Georgetown? What if my parents didn’t talk to Travis that day? What if I hadn’t reached out to Travis? When we are in the thick of situations, we don’t realize until later how these events are all connected, and what seem like random events are not random at all.
God brought me a brother when we needed an additional family member. God connects the events. We just have to have faith.
