These are the two audio pieces linked to my assignment, First Attempt at Audio.

Selection 2

Selection 1

Audio Postcard submission by Beckie Jaeckels

Audio Postcard

When Anna Jung realized her mother was pregnant with her half-sibling, she was ecstatic. Anna had been an only child for 12 years so the prospect of a younger sibling, regardless of who the father was, thrilled her.

“When I first found out she was pregnant, I was, like, super excited. And I knew it was going to be a girl, even when, like, everyone else told me it wasn’t. I even made her a picture that said ‘It’s a girl’ with a bouquet of flowers before they even found out the gender.”

Anna was right. Eight years ago, her little sister, Carolyn Mierzwa joined the family. The two shared the bond typical of any two sisters. Carolyn looked up to her older sister, who loved her dearly in return. But having a half-sibling comes with complications. 

“I was at my, uh, my actual grandma and grandpa’s house. So it’s not her side of the family. And she’s like ‘Oh, I want to get a picture of all of our grandkids. And, like, naturally, you know, she also wanted to be in the photo because she doesn’t really get that she’s not really their grandkid. So that was kind of hard to, like, watch her, you know, like, be defeated like that.”

Anna, her mother, and her step-father have tried to have the conversation with Carolyn about the two girls having different fathers, but Anna says she has been resistant. Having different fathers doesn’t diminish Jung’s love her for in any capacity. To her, Carolyn is still the little sister she hoped for when she drew her mom the picture of the flowers.