I was eight years old when my family got a new arrival.When I came home from school one spring day, my mother was sitting on the sofa. Her face was red, and on the floor next to her was a pile of handkerchiefs. She asked me to sit down."Jimmie, there's something I have to tell you. You're going to have a baby sister".I remember I was very shocked by that.A week later, I was in the yard and my dad drove into the driveway. He got out, waved at me and went to the back door. When he got out of the car, he had a little girl in his arms."Jimmie, come here. I want you to meet your sister Savannah. She's four years old."I ran over and tried to look at her, but she buried her face in Daddy's neck.Later that night, I guess she had taken a nap and felt better. She was sitting at the table, and my father was giving her dinner. I had to admit she was an adorable child. I asked my father where she came from. He said she was from Virginia, near our house in Maryland, but her family was from the Philippines.Little Savannah looked up at me and smiled the widest smile I had ever seen. I was eight, but my heart melted. Maybe we'd have some luck in the house.Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. I tried to be a good child. I did my chores. I got good grades. I took care of my sister as best I could. I called her Sandra, and we played in the yard. Sometimes I'd bring out all her stuffed animals and put them up like a parade. She was my sister and I would do anything for that smile. But it wasn't enough.I was 10 when my parents got divorced.I think by then I was so resigned to it, it hardly affected me at all. Anyway, my father was away from home almost all the time because he was working. My mother did the best she could with both of us. I don't think I saw her say more than four words to each other every night. No, the divorce came as no surprise, and I didn't feel the needWhat surprised me anyway is that after the divorce my father didn't just move out, he moved all the way to Oregon. Birthday cards and Christmas presents were all I ever got from him, even the ones that got fewer and fewer over the years.I think back, and he just didn't have it in him to be the family man. He had to throw himself into whatever he wanted to do at that time. Sometimes it was work. Other times he flew across the country to see a new city or something like that. Either way, he didn't think much about the family, and after that we didn't think much about him.Mama, sis and me... we'd get by. We moved to a smaller house with a smaller garden, but that was okay because it was still our home.It's pretty easy for an older brother to dismiss a younger sister, especially if there are four years between them, but I didn't do it.I adored Sandra and I could not even fully explain why. She was just... incredibly special. She had an indefinable quality about her that allowed us to avoid the normal trouble between the older brother and younger sister. I didn't just spend time with her because I had to help her to help mum, I spent time with her because she was my sister and I cared about her. I wanted everything to be right for her. I wanted her to smile all the time.