My Sister

I have a younger sister who is going to be a junior in high school.  Me and her have never been that close, but we've never had problems either.  We just have never had that much to talk about, so we never really bonded.  But when I went off to college I became closer with everyone in my family (including her).  I think it was that once I was no longer seeing them all every day, I began to appreciate how awesome a family they really were.  So whenever I was away at college I would have a good relationship with my mom and sister (primarilly) and whenever I was home for an extended period of time I would stop liking them so much.

When I was diagnosed with ED I was at school.  I remember getting a ton of pity texts and emails from family members that knew saything that they believed in me and were there for me.  My sister was one of the texts.  She said something along the lines of how she was terrified and wanted me to get better.  I changed my eating habits long before I was diagnosed and she would now and again ask me random questions about food just because she had no previous knowledge on healthy eating.  She was always thicker then me (she just happened to get my dad's genes), but she has also definitely gained some weight lately.  Two nights ago we were actually hanging out and she told me that she had become a vegetarian (but still eats fish like I do).  I am very into my vegan diet (excluding fish), and have been ever since I transitioned over so I was really psyched for her.  I now think that meat is disgusting and cringe whenever I have to touch cheese or bacon (I waitress at a restaurant).  But then she told me that my dad had grounded her as soon as he found out.  I brought it up to him today and he got really mad and said that he didn't want to talk about it with me because I have refused to get better.  What he did say though was that he was convinced that developing an eating disorder was so much easier once you became vegetarian, and that he wasn't going to let another one of his kids get screwed up.  He's convinved that I'm going to hate him when I get older for not stepping in and making me change "when I can't have kids or get osteoperosis", and he doesn't want my sister to be the same way.  I guess I can see his point but I thought that that was COMPLETELY out of line.  Grounding her for becoming a vegetarian!! Are you kidding me?!  There are SO many people who are vegetarian and even vegan that don't have eating disorders.  I have also always been a perfectionist, so it was only a matter of time before I took control of my eating (which had always depressed me).  My sister on the other hand is the farthest thing from a perfectionist.  So as mean as it is, I don't think she'd have the willpower to develop an eating disorder.

What I realized though is that I wasn't so upset because my dad was inhibiting her from being able to loose weight, but that he was inhibiting her from giving up killing animals and eating pesticides, chemicals, steroids and hormones!  I'm all for a vegan diet because of how disgusting meat and dairy are.  I also feel like I'm part of a different culture then everyone else and I love seeing the increasing movement towards the acceptance of vegetarianism.  (I hope that veganism will one day be totally accepted.)