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Testimony: A Teenager Gains A Deeper Appreciation For Family

Damarco Brooks
Basim Blunt
/
WYSO
Damarco Brooks

Today on Dayton Youth Radio, we have a story from a Centerville High School teenager who finds closure about a family mystery.

My name is Damarco Brooks. I'm a senior at the Centerville High School.  I am smart, goofy, I'm funny; there's a lot about me that I like.  My family is very protective of each other.  If you lived under my roof you would feel safe more than anywhere else, because just because we’ve got each other’s backs.  I am currently seventeen and still curious about something that has a very deep meaning to me, my mother Joanne, my father Damarco Brooks Sr., and my younger brother and sister.

I was using the restroom in my house, and there were these dolls on top of the towel rack. They looked exactly the same as if someone bought the same toy for their daughters so they would fight over whose looked better. Both dolls were identical, same eyes same hair, but they had on baby clothes with different colors, one red and one pink. I never understood why the dolls were there, but it annoyed me because why were there dolls in the restroom.

When I got older I asked my mom Joanne about the dolls, and she didn't answer me. But I was young, curious, and could not realize how important the dolls were to her.  Whenever I went to my dad about the situation, or any situation, he would always send me straight to my mom, and I would never get an answer.

My family are Christians; we always go to church on Sundays. In our church, people sometimes give a testimony on how God is important in their lives. One Sunday, the church started about everyone's problems, I remember it was loud, lights were on and then it got quiet all of a sudden, My mother out of nowhere was singled out and I know something was wrong. I remember our pastor saying to the church that God took my mother’s two babies for a reason, and she started bawling out in tears right in front of us and the whole church. And I was so lost, I felt so sad and hopeless.

Later on that week my mom sat me and my younger sister and brother down and talked to us about our two sisters. I remember her telling us they were really beautiful, just not healthy enough to live. Both were underweight and had trouble breathing. The doctor said they wouldn't make it through the night.

My mom was so devastated she stayed the whole night with them talking to them like they were the best of friends, since kindergarten.  My mother told me she got the dolls for remembrance. The dolls are very important to my mother and mean the world to her. We all hugged it out and told my mom it would be okay because “you still have us,” she smiled and hugged us even harder.

Finally, after hearing the whole story and finding the truth about my two sisters, it honestly makes you imagine a lot. What would they have been like? What sports did they play? What were their favorite colors?

I wish I could have the chance to meet my sisters, it would be a dream come true. The real message is for teens, or anyone with siblings to appreciate that gift and tell them you love them every day.

Damarco Brooks is a student at Centerville High School. Special Thanks to Tricia Rapoch, teacher for the Communication Arts Program at Centerville High School. Learn more at the school's website:  http://www.centerville.k12.oh.us/CHS Dayton Youth Radio is supported by the Virginia W. Kettering Foundation and the Ohio Arts Council.

 

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