The Story Chalk and Cheese

 

Hi Friends.... I wrote this story last month. Now I'm posting it here, so if you feel like it, go ahead and read it.  I'm open to new titles, so if you feel like suggesting one, go right ahead.  Other than the title, I'm just looking for complimentary feedback.  Thank you, Readers.

Chalk and Cheese

by Lee Heffernan

       The Emancipation Day hearing came and went with no serious hiccups. Stella had parental consent, so we didn't expect any major snags, despite her age. The judge did question her capacity for financial independence, but Mom, citing a labor statute about the rights of minors to work as independent contractors, explained that Stella worked as a landscape technician and had a healthy client list.  An overstatement, but the judge let it slide.  Stella basically did yard work for Mom and Dad and a few neighbors. After some paper signing and shuffling, the judge announced that Stella was officially free of our family.  We huddled up for a group hug and headed out of the courthouse with plenty of time to make our 6:30 dinner reservation. 

 

        When Mom and Dad brought Stella home from the hospital 14 years ago I wouldn't say I loved her instantly, but I certainly never imagined we'd be terminating our relationship in a court of law before she graduated from high school. Of course, by the time she entered kindergarten, there were clues that we'd end up here. Stella refused to add other stick figures to her family drawings. She told her teacher she only belonged with herself.  Everyone thought it was adorable. In second grade, she wrote a note to Mom and Dad and left it on their pillow.  ``Dear Mom and Dad.  I want to live in my own house."  Mom put it up on the refrigerator.  Third Grade on, she called them by their given names and referred to me as her roommate.  Mom and Dad, as usual, thought everything she did was fascinating. They never tried to talk her out of her feelings. "We respect your decisions," Mom said to us countless times.  Dad would add, "You know YOU better than anyone else does."  

 

    I never got the feeling that Stella disliked Mom, Dad, or me.  Her mood was usually upbeat, if somewhat reserved.  To her, "not belonging" felt normal.  Just the way it was.  I started getting it when she shared her sixth grade identity power point project, titled "What's a Family?" She gave dozens of examples from history of people who lacked emotional connection with their birth families. After her presentation, the school social worker offered to meet with Stella, but Stella declined. Mom and Dad backed her up. When freshman year came around and Stella talked about emancipating, I was onboard.  Following my parents' lead, I decided to celebrate Stella's independent spirit.  

 

     When the emancipation hearing went our way, I posted a two-part video on social media.  The first part showed Stella walking in to the courthouse with Mom and Dad. The second part showed her walking out alone, smiling ear to ear and  holding up her court documents, to the sound of  canned applause. The caption read, "No longer sisters... now we're best friends" and "Congrats, Stella, on your emancipation!" 

 

    Soon after that, Stella moved in to a trailer on the west side of town with her boyfriend Eddie, who had graduated years before. And soon after her move, Stella signed herself out of high school in order to expand her landscaping business.  Stella and Eddie came over from time to time.  Not often, but we always were happy to see them and they were happy to see us. The whole thing felt fine, but then my video went viral.  Mom started taking a lot of heat for being an "unnatural mother." No one criticized Dad, of course. People stood on our sidewalk, screaming, holding signs.   TV reporters and film crews buzzed around the yard like fireflies. Mom took it all in stride.  She even started a support group for other families who believed in full citizenship for kids, FC4K.  She wrote a newsletter and a blog, which eventually became a book, followed by a book tour.  We thought it would all die down, but Mom's advocacy for Stella turned into a new full time job.  

    Dad and I try to support her as best we can.