(photo by Paladin27 on Flickr*)

Heart Broken by NICK ROBINSON

An unexpected kind of "broken heart" brings an older brother closer than ever to his little sister.

Maggie Robinson had never been happier than she was at this track meet in early April of 2007. She was never even that good at track -- at least, she didn't think so. At 17 and in her junior year of high school, she had never placed among the top contenders, but she always gave it her best shot and hoped for better things. Today would be her break.

The event was at her home high school, Portage Central in Portage, in Southwest Michigan, so she didn't have to go far; she always hated riding the bus. It smelled funny, the seats were uncomfortable, and she usually wasn't able to talk with her friends. Walking across the street to the field, surrounded by six or seven girls, was much better. She looked up at the cloudless blue sky and felt the cool breeze on her neck. The best kind of day.

Inside the stadium, the coach gathered together the whole team, boys and girls together in a pool of white jerseys and blue shorts. At 5' 9", she is easy to spot. She once said in her joke-y, singsong syntax that she was "taller than most girls, and a few girls are taller than me, while a few guys are taller than me but a lot of guys are shorter."

After the huddle, she moved off with a few friends and stretched on the sidelines. Because of her height, she was very skinny, and her black hair rested on her shoulders, holding in all the heat from the sun. Looking into the stands, she easily found her mother, sitting with the other parents. She waved enthusiastically, and her mom waved back.

Soon enough, it was Maggie's turn. Today, she was to compete in the 100-meter sprints and the 100-meter hurdles, and the hurdles were first. The hurdles were one of the scariest things for Maggie; once, she had not pulled her leg all the way over, and it left a gash eight inches long on the back of her thigh. The scar is still there. Her mom sat nervously in the crowd, cheering on Maggie with all her might.

At the sound of the gunshot, Maggie took off. She cleared each hurdle, one after the other, with ease, didn't even take notice of the other runners, completely focused, lost in the race. When she crossed the finish line, she had come in first. It was her first win and she couldn't stop smiling. Mom was screaming with joy and bouncing in the stands. Maggie ended up placing third overall, still something she had never accomplished.

When it came time for the 100-meter sprints, Maggie was still riding on a high and even approached the starting line a bit giddy. But after the shot, the focus returned, and she was running faster than she ever had. The sweat poured down her face, her muscles throbbed in agony, but she pushed on to cross the finish line before the entire field. She not only won her heat, but finished in first place overall.

Afterwards, Maggie was smiling like a true champion, with high-fives from teammates slapping her on the back. When she looked into the stands, she saw mom beaming with pride, red in the face, and yelling Maggie's name at the top of her lungs. The rest of the crowd was clapping right along with mom.

Because she still wasn't on the varsity squad, there was no official recognition of her victory, not even a little certificate with her name in fancy cursive writing. But nothing could put a damper on her moment. The coach practically assured her she would make varsity by the end of the season. So what was there to worry about? She ran over to her brothers' track practice to tell them the good news, and then, when she got home, she called dad, because he had been traveling on business. After that she called me, her older brother, because I was at Michigan State University.

***

The truth is that Maggie and I never got along very well. She's a year and a half younger, and we are completely different. She's into athletics, and I am more academics. She hates video games, and I love them. I read books, and she reads magazines. We would fight when we were younger about nothing, because she knows how to push my buttons, and my fuse is pretty short. I accidentally bloodied her nose once when I smacked her in a church parking lot. She was annoying and I didn't know my own strength.

But things have gotten better in the last couple of years. When she began going to my high school, I was a junior and I showed her the ropes. I would see her every once in a while in the halls, and give her a great big hug, just to embarrass her in front of her friends. I would give her rides to school and to friends' houses, and she would try not to give me a hard time about some of the crazy girls I dated. She's my sister, and I love Maggie, and not just because I have to.

And so when she called me that day in April, I was very excited. We talked a little, but not too much, cause I had stuff to do. I had a girlfriend to attend to, lots of homework, and anything else I could imagine. And I'm sure Maggie had her own things as well. When we hung up, we just said goodbye, knowing that we would see each other again soon, and that things would be the same.

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