Unexpected Change

By Nicole Q

I've always had someone by my side that I highly appreciate, and that's my cousin Julia. She's been there with me through thick and thin. I remember always sleeping over at her house growing up on the weekends when I visited my dad. I still sleepover to this day. She's the cousin that I would make little YouTube videos with when we were younger.

We lived together on different occasions or I've moved in with her, once when I was younger in elementary school and again in middle school. I've lived with a lot of my family members and the atmosphere with my auntie, Chapis, Martin, Jayleen, Evrlyn and Julia; also Emmanuel, who recently moved back. They made me feel the most welcome.

We had our quince together. She wore lavender and I wore blue. There's a couple things we don't have in common like TV shows and music. I like oldies and she prefers Spanish music. For the most part, we've been together our whole lives. We only became distant when I moved to Stockton. Something funny is that we match on accident, like at my uncle’s wedding.

She's my unsung hero because she was always very positive. I, on the other hand, am very negative. She cheers up everyone in the family at our little carne asadas. I would notice she would wait for me to arrive to eat together.

She even got me my very first cat, Nube. She got me Nube during the time that I had just moved to San Jose. She said it was to keep me company since she lived far away. She'll never know how truly grateful I am for her and her kindness.

When my mom, little sister and step-dad passed away, she was always there for me. There would be days when I truly questioned a lot because I wasn't in the right state of mind and she would motivate me to get up and move around. She made sure I wasn't sleeping all day and we’d have late night talks that actually really helped me, which I'll never forget. When we talked, it wasn't always deep. Sometimes we would just gossip and talk about our classes. Also, her sister Jayleen, I see her as a parental figure sometimes. She always took care of us. Even though it was tough, Julia really helped me. She never judged me. She saw me at my lowest and accepted me for who I was because I know I wasn't always the nicest person. I was just mad at the world but it was no one’s fault.

I kinda wish we went to the same high school so we could graduate together, but life has other plans for us. I love being with her. I love that we have fun doing anything together, even all the dumb stuff we do.

For the Warrior Times, this is Nicole Quintero.