Her sister, four years younger, had been horribly burned in a house fire.  Chelsea suffered burns to her face, neck, upper chest, shoulders, and arms.  She was in the hospital for nearly a year and still faced years of reconstructive surgery.  

Her sister used to be beautiful, with russet-colored tresses, sea-green eyes that changed color depending on her mood, long, silken lashes that brushed tender, pink-tinged cheeks, a straight, thin nose, pretty full lips, and an oval shaped face.  Now Chelsea looked completely different; whenever people looked at her, they would quickly turn away or stare, or even go as far as asking questions that bothered Cara to the core.

Kids were the worst.  They pointed, they laughed, they stared, and worst of all, they teased her, calling Chelsea a freak or monster.  The words stabbed Cara's heart.  This was no monster they were referring to: this was her very own flesh and blood, her little sister!

Whenever Cara heard people teasing or laughing at her sister, she would become so enraged her face would turn beet red and her eyes would literally turn red with rage.  She would then run after the kids (or adults), demanding that they stop teasing Chelsea right this instant, or she was going to call the police on them.

Even despite her severe disabilities, Chelsea remained the same sweet, shy, demure person she had always been (though at times Chelsea would sink into moments of deep depression).  Cara had never seen anything quite like it.

Chelsea had a very strong spirit.  She was determined to grab life by the horns and get her life back on track, even in light of all the surgeries or hospital stays that loomed ahead of her.  Cara was amazed at her sister's unfaltering courage.

Her sister's spirit got Cara thinking.  She thought to herself, if Chelsea could still enjoy life after a life-altering accident, then by God, she could as well.  That was when she made the important decision of standing by her younger sister, no matter what life threw at her, and be there for her, through thick and thin, through sunshine and rain, through the bad times as well as the good.