Late to the show, but here we go. This is going to be long, so buckle up. My younger sister (shes almost 19, Im 20) lived with us until I turned 18, at which point she was moved in to a group home. TBH the hardest part was probably keeping her safe. She has always had a developmental disability which caused stunted growth as well as issues with her brain development, which was heightened by the fact that she fell out of a shopping cart as a small child. She was sitting correctly with her seatbelt on, and then she unbuckled herself, stood up and leaned forward while my mom was browsing through the rack for new coats for us for school. I believe I was 5 and she was 3 at the time. She was in a medically induced coma for 3 weeks after that.
That was just some background on her, now to answer the question. In a family of 7, she was my only full sister, and because of that I always felt responsible for her. She was a handful at times, getting in to trouble by spray painting neighbors cars or stealing anything she could get her hands on from teachers at school. She would come in to my room while I slept and cut my hair. I still keep my hair long to this day because of that. She would relieve herself out the window or in different parts of her room when she was upset or didnt feel like using the toilet. I am sorry to say that I yelled at her sometimes when I was a kid. Then one day, all my sisters and I went down to the creek.
I was 15 at the time, and the only boy. We had a deep part, which went to about 8 feet deep, and nearby it shallowed to about 6 inches, where she would play with our younger sisters. I was swimming and I heard a splash from that side, and turning to look, I saw nothing but my youngest two sisters. That set off an alarm in my head, as that meant that I was missing someone. As I swam back, I saw huge bubbles come up to the surface in front of me right where the creek dropped of to the deeper part I was in. My heart sank. She was down there.
I swam as hard as I could back and started yelling for her, hoping I was wrong, hoping that she would come from behind a tree or something. I swam for where I thought I saw the bubbles and went straight down. Against all odds, I found her foot with my hands down there, in the murky dark. She wasnt moving. I turned her upright and swam back to the surface with her. I dont know if it was the bright sun, or the rocks scraping on her back as I dragged her to the surface, but she started coughing. I started crying.
After that, she followed me around like a puppy dog, and I protected her as much as I could from anything that might harm her. Then she moved to a group home in Colorado a few years back, and shes been doing awesome ever since. She plays basketball with the other clients in her company, and she's really good. I live in PA, so I dont see her often, but we speak on the phone and skype.
She gave me the compassion, patience, and empathy that I have now. I work at a group home in the area now with guys that are far worse off than she ever was, and I love every day of it because of her.
TL;DR: Why would you go to r/askreddit and not read the answers? Come on.