by Camila Gonzalez
Sometimes teens have trouble becoming adults, but not Teagan Halbrooks.
She used to watch the High School Musical movies and played with Bratz dolls. Now a senior at Lawton (Okla.) High School, Halbrooks is raising her 12-year-old sister because their mother is battling a disease.
While the 17-year-old drives her sister home from school, the two of them play a game yelling out the names of whatever they see on the road. She does this to remind her sister that they can still have fun even though their mother, Randi Halbrooks, has reflexive sympathetic dystrophy syndrome (RSD).
“I have to be her mom in a sense,” Halbrooks said of her younger sister.
Halbrooks said RSD is a condition in which the nervous system attacks the body because it thinks something is wrong.
Halbrooks said she is close with her father and remembers him saying, “It’s all between you and God.” This reminds the family that they can rely on religion no matter what. Halbrooks said God is a part of her everyday life.
She said taking care of her sister makes her more independent and mature.
She does it because it’s the right thing. “I wanna help.”
She helps by cooking for her family. She learned from her grandma, who plans to teach Halbrooks how to make fry bread. This is used to make one of her favorite foods, Indian tacos.
Her adulthood arrived early, but she still has fun. She practices many kinds of dance such as ballet, hip-hop and modern.
Halbrooks admires her grandpa, parents and Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson. Her little sister likely looks up to her.
