A special flower

By Kayla P

My cousin and I were always attached to the hip. She was born two months after me so basically, we grew up together since we were babies. Even though I was the older one, she fulfilled the role of it more than I did growing up and I’ll always appreciate her for it.

Her name is Daisy. She’s what I think of when people say the phrase “sister from another mother.” There wasn’t a single week we haven’t seen or talked to each other.

We grew up in a giant family but always maintained the closest bond out of everyone. There’s so many memories between the both of us and the life goals that we succeeded together.

We practically did everything together since the first day we could walk. We witnessed each other’s first steps, first birthdays, first everything.

Not too recent but about three years ago, I got the news that her family was moving away from San Jose.

Of course, after hearing that news, I was completely devastated. I was crushed and didn't know what to do. She was my best friend and thinking about the fact that I won’t be able to hang out with her every week tore me apart at the time.

That made me realize that I wasn’t used to change. I didn’t like change. I didn’t want to make new friends, or pick new colors to use.

This was also back in 2021 when Covid had just begun becoming a nationwide pandemic. So being 7th grade Kayla, who was also getting used to transitioning to distance-learning, took the news pretty hard.

I was scared that when she moved, I wouldn’t be able to talk to her as often as we usually did. That everything would be different since she would be 1-2 hours away from our home city.

In the beginning, it was difficult getting used to the new change in my life. We didn’t call as much or talk, since her family was still settling in. Luckily, at one point, she started giving me house updates and we would call and discuss what desk or bed frame would fit her new room. It was fun since we were like playing interior designers.

Fortunately, I did get used to everything and we’d still have our digital weekly check-ups and see each other a lot actually. Her family comes back to San Jose for her appointments and for the holidays since pretty much everyone in the family lives here.

One of my favorite core memories between us was when we pulled an all-nighter at one of our sleepovers. We stayed up to watch the BTS online concert that was happening that night and a bonus was that we made a glass painting while waiting for it to start. It was such a refreshing memory for us and a core one at that.

I’m very glad that while growing up, I had someone always next to me. She’d always put me first and help me get through anything, especially through the turbulent seas that were flooding our lives at the time.

Thanks Daisy, for everything.

Thanks for making a positive impact on my life.

For the Warrior Times, I am Kayla Phan.