Blog
21-Year-Old Cares for 5 Siblings After Parents’ Death
Samantha Rodriguez, 21, has spent the last few years caring for her five younger siblings, ages 5-17, after her parents passed away from cancer. When her parents got sick, Samantha dropped out of school to take care of them. After they both passed away, Samantha went back to school to get her diploma, because she wanted to her siblings to know that education is important.
“My reality [was] I’m 17, but these are my brothers and sisters, and when I looked at them, I knew that they’re children. They’re vulnerable and they need an adult, so I became their adult,” Rodriguez told ABC talk show “The View.”
On top of running the household, Samantha works as a waitress and goes to college part-time. She eventually wants to adopt her siblings, however, she says she doesn’t need a piece of paper to determine something she already knows. For right now, the Rodriguez family hopes to move into a bigger space that better suits their size. Samantha even set up a GoFundMe account to help them reach their goal.
Although they reminisce about family memories, the passing of their parents has made their sibling relationships stronger. Milagros, 15, says her older sister “gave up basically her life to take care of us” and that “Sam is a mom and a dad to us.”
“Obviously, there’s still times where we cry about stuff, we remember feelings that we used to have with our parents, or memories, but for the most part we’re very happy kids and we do most things that kids do,” Milagros additionally told Inside Edition.
This amazing story of Samantha Rodriguez and her siblings illustrates a few things: how important love and strength are to a family in times of tragedy; that it’s crucial to keep siblings together; and that families are resilient and can overcome great hardship.
We wish the Rodriguez family a lifetime of love together!