By Gabby Sahm

Staff Writer

When you have an older sibling, whether it be a sister or brother, you are destined to look up to them. No matter how much you can bicker back and forth, you always look at their experiences in life and decide what you could do differently to make the outcome be just a little bit better.

When you have an older sibling that has not gone through those experiences however, you can become very lost.

Parker Sahm is my 18 year old brother, who happens to be two years older than me. He is a senior at Coppell High School and is planning on attending college after he graduates. The one thing that sets him apart from most seniors is the fact that he is legally blind. This does not mean he cannot see at all, it just means that his eyesight is in the range that is declared legally blind by law.

Parker was born this way and has not been able to find many ways around it. He cannot wear glasses or contacts because they do not make lenses big enough. He has to use a magnifying glass to look at things on his phone or read over papers he might receive in class.

Growing up I did not think much of his poor eyesight. I never saw him differently because we would still be able to do everything together. He has gotten laser eye surgeries and used to wear glasses, but over the years we have just learned to deal with the circumstances. It was easy to forget about when we were young because we would always be worried about the little things as kids. Now that we are both in high school, and starting to experience new things, it is getting harder and harder to not look at what has been standing right in front of us for so long.

I am in the process of getting my driver’s license and learning the ropes about owning my very own car. This should be an exciting and fun experience for me, seeing as all I have wanted for the past two years is my driver’s license, but it has turned into a bittersweet ordeal. Since Parker is legally blind, the law states that his eyesight prevents him from being able to drive. It has become very hard to be happy about getting my licenses when I look across the room at my brother who will never be able to get his.

Another problem that arises often is friends. He does not have friends over as often as I do. This could be because I am a teenage girl, and teenage girls always seem to finds ways to hang out, but I feel there is more to it. While he will never admit it to me, I feel that he thinks people think differently of him because of his eyesight. These days students do not take the time to truly sit down and talk to someone new. They just stick with their cliques. While my brother’s friends are all going off and driving around town, my brother cannot do the same.

There have been many days were I will be sitting in my room and wonder what it would be like if the roles were reversed. How would my life be different if I had had his eyesight? What if he had good eyesight, and we were both equal? I do wish he did not have to deal with the struggles he has gone through, because he is honestly one of the nicest guys anyone can meet. He is very dedicated in everything he does, and he will always be there to cheer you up when you feel down.

I feel without the eyesight that he has now, he would not be the same person he is today. He would not have the experience of having to live day to day like he does now, and those experiences can really shape someone. Regardless of his eyesight, it is not hard to see that my brother has turned out to be a pretty great role model and will continue to be one for years to come.