My Story

Hi everyone, it's Reese! Today I'm going to tell you a story. A story about my life: where I came from, my past, and now. This is the story of my life.

My hometown is in South Korea. I was born there and then adopted. You might think my mom Kara adopted me, but that's not how it worked out. I was adopted by a nice couple. The mother was named Maria and the father was John. They were nice people, but after a few years, when I was 5 years old, I was put into foster care. I didn't know why or what I did wrong. In the end, it turned out that they adopted another son and didn't want me anymore. It was hard to deal with, but I ended up getting over it.

I went to a foster home with lots of kids in New York City, New York. The rest of the foster children were all older than me; most of them were around 10 to 15 years old. I was only 5 and I was alone a lot. No one seemed to like me or pay attention to me. It was here that I developed a love for reading. One day, when I was wandering around, I found a huge library in the house. I spent hours there everyday, only coming out when asked. Within a few weeks, I had only touched a corner of the books. I read The Adventures of Robin Hood, Cinderella, Snow White, and other classics. These stories gave me hope for the future. I could pretend to be whoever I wanted to be. I played the role of Cinderella the most. I wished that I could have a fairy godmother and go to a ball with a prince!

Despite being alone most of the time, I liked the foster home. My foster parents were kind to me and I loved spending my days in the sunny library seated in a leather chair. It all seemed perfect. I almost hoped never to get adopted and never have to leave the books. But as things got better and better, I stumbled along the edge of a precipice. I was being transferred to another foster home. Apparently, the new foster home was in need of foster kids, and I was being volunteered for the job. I knew, even at seven years old, that I would miss the place. I still sometimes do.

The next foster home was worse. Much worse. The small-town Wisconsin home was cramped and lonely. The foster parents were new to the foster care system, and they didn't like to follow the rules. I was left alone and the only kid there. I was assigned a tiny room with no books and sometimes went a day without food if they forgot. It was like I was invisible; not even there. Most of the time, my foster parents were at work. They didn't like to pay attention to me and they only wanted me for the money. Before I knew it, they had a son. I wasn't needed or wanted anymore. I was brought to an orphanage, where I stayed for 2 years, until I was 10 years old.

Staying 3 years at an orphanage was hard. I was only young, which made it only worse. I was forced to fend for myself. My only possessions were my heart- shaped necklace from my biological parents ( who died in a fire) and the brown outfit on my back. There were many people there, but it wasn't a good thing. It was at the American Girl orphanage in New York City where I met one of my friends, Emery. Emery is the same age as me and currently lives in Seattle, Washington. Emery and I got along well. We both had nothing. We both came from a past in various foster homes. We both loved reading, acting, and animals. We were best friends. Emery looked the opposite of what I looked like. She had medium brown hair and I had dark brown hair (almost black). She had hazel eyes and I had brown eyes. None the less, we were the best of friends. We did everything together. Emery was adopted about  3 months before I was.

I remember the day I was adopted by my mom Emily. It was December 17, 2011, my thirteenth birthday. Emery was gone, I was lonely and sad, and I had no one to celebrate with. I remember the worker named Kerry coming to tell me to come to the office. I went without questioning it, and there stood a young woman smiling and excited.

"Reese, this is Emily." Kerry said. "She is going to be adopting you."

"Hi Reese, I'm Emily." My mom said, beaming down at me.

I wanted to scream for joy, but I knew not to get too excited. Would I be inadequately cared for? Would I be given away again? I was worried and scared from everything that had happened in my past.

"Hi Emily." Those two words were the first I spoke to my mother, who seemed to already love me.

Flashing forward to today, I now live with Emily and seven other girls. I quickly became friends with a girl named Nellie, who reminded me of Emery. I love my home and everyone loves each other. We are always doing fun things and spending lots of time together. But most importantly, there are lots of books.

Love,
Reese <3