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Love Means Sacrificing Yourself
by Jeremy Roloff
I love Christmas break. You don't have to go to school, you get to be with your family, and you get to go hang out with your friends and do fun things and not have to worry about homework or soccer practice or anything.
As much as I love Christmas break is how much I hate being in hospitals. When someone is in a hospital, it's because they are sick or hurt, and that's not fun to be around. And it's even less fun when you have to be in a hospital over Christmas break. But when my twin brother Zachary — or any other member of my family — is in the hospital, then too bad not wanting to be there.
Last Christmas, I was stuck in a hospital in Oakland, California, where Zachary had some surgery done on his right leg. It was a pretty big operation, and he was in a lot of pain afterwards. And while I wasn't in the hospital room with him the whole time he was there, I did spend a bunch of time visiting him and helping him.
Dad and I were scheduled to fly back to Portland on the Thursday night before Christmas, which was the Monday following the surgery. We were just about to go, and I was looking forward to getting back to see my girlfriend and hang out with my friends, who were planning a trip to Mount Hood Meadows to do something I love: snowboarding.
After the surgery, Mom and Dad said Zachary was going to recover just fine. My friends called me and said new snow was falling and the slopes were rad. They just couldn't wait for me to get home so we could go up there and make a day of it.
But then, Dad hit me with a change of plans. Instead of flying back early, he was going to stay in Oakland and drive back home when Zach was able to travel. And oh, by the way, would I mind staying to help load all the junk in the car and do the driving?
Dad made it clear that the decision was up to me. He came to me and said, "You know, I'm going to stay, and I think it would be cool if you stayed. You can go back if you want, and nobody would be mad if you did. It's your choice."
At first, I didn't know what to do. I had a girlfriend back home who was calling and wondering when I'd be back, and my two best friends calling telling me to get my behind home so we could go play in the snow. On top of that, a good friend of mine who has been living in Utah was in town and wanted to get together to hang out. It seemed like my phone wasn't going to stop ringing unless I got on a plane for home.
Dad said it was completely and totally my decision. Now I had to make up my mind what I was going to do.
I struggled at first, because I knew Zach wanted me to stay. I also knew those "small" chores that needed to be done before you can take a road trip from Oakland to home would have been trouble for the rest of the family without me there to help out. I slowly saw that my family needed me there. My friends-as well as those beautiful slopes calling my name at Mount Hood Meadows-were going to have to wait.
I stayed in Oakland the few extra days, then helped pack the car, which meant loading the luggage rack, which no one in my family would have been able to do. Then I had to drive the whole family home.
I knew it was the right decision, and I'm glad now that Dad let me make it for myself.
From p. 24 of LITTLE FAMILY, BIG VALUES by The Roloff Family. Copyright © 2007 by The Roloff Family. Reprinted by permission of Fireside Books, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
