Based on a true story. . .

Once upon a time, a baby girl was born to an independent single mother. The mom worked at a bank, probably earning minimum wage. The dad was probably never seen after the mother said to him “I am pregnant”. The grandmother, two aunts and a cousin stood by the mother through her pregnancy and were all very excited for the latest addition to their family.

The baby was born in the 1980’s in a land far far away. She was a bold and cheerful baby. A year after she was born, her one aunt passed away and the second one travelled to Ethiopia for a while. As the years went by, the baby became a child. Soon the child was old enough to attend primary school which she ended up liking.

The child starting learning her ABC’s and swimming lessons as she loved water more than anything. As the child grew into a young girl, she did not particularly like boys but she would end up playing soccer with them. During her primary school years, her aunt returned from  Ethiopia, got married, had two children, lost her grandmother in a car accident and her mother shortly after from a cardiac arrest. Heartbroken and alone, the young girl was adopted by her aunt and uncle, and since them called them her parents.

Although the young girl was lovable, she blamed everything that went wrong on her mother who had passed away. The young girl then became a teenager, went to high school and never really spoke about her biological mother as this was still a sensitive topic. Two years later her family moved and she had to start making new friends. The teenage girl was excited to move as she loved meeting people and making new friends. As the years and a few crying sessions with new friends went by, she became comfortable with speaking about her biological mother.

Being adopted eventually caught up with her as her two sisters and two brothers (her biological cousins) became older and started asking questions about why they look different. She constantly started feeling out and slowly spent most of her time with her friends as they would take time to listen or even by herself. She grew up never knowing what it was like to have a mother rock her to sleep, or sitting on her father’s shoulders or even just cuddling with her sister when she was sad.

As she completed her secondary education she couldn’t help but feel like a burden to the family, she then moved far far away to complete her tertiary education. She became a young lady, had great times and really hard times far far away from her family but she did not give up. She often still feels like a burden but has learnt how to deal with it.

That young lady goes on living far far away, missing her mother, father, sisters and brothers more and more every day. She regrets not spending as much time as she could have with her family, but one thing she did do very well until to this very day was love her family unconditionally.

The end. . .