A little girl from Africa tells her story. She is one of the adopted daughters in the Williams family from California.
This series is inspired by the creator of the Williams family, Michelle Kidwell. I am putting a new spin on her characters in the "Mother Of Many" series, and she is doing the same on mine. Hope you enjoy my contribution to the series!
Hi! My name is Mia Rochelle Williams, and I am seven years old. I live in Soulysbiville (spelling?), California, which is near Jamestown. It's a really small town, but it is nice, and I like being here.
I was born in Africa, and when I was five, I stepped on a land-mine, and it blew my legs off. I don't remember much of the accident except this big boom, then pain, and then I guess I fainted; because I woke up later, and I was in a hospital. I was scared because I thought I had died, but I didn't die; but I WAS badly hurt, and when I found out that my legs were gone, I cried. I now have new "legs" again, but I am still having a bit of trouble walking, and I am still getting used to them. I go to therapy, and it seems to be helping me; but it is still very hard at times, and at times I hurt, and I cry because it hurts just so bad! It's like my legs are still there, and they AREN'T, and I can't understand WHY I have pain when I don't have any legs! It's WEIRD!!
After my accident, I was put into an orphanage in Africa, and I then came to America to see if anyone wanted a little girl from Africa with no legs; and a lady in California wanted to adopt me, so she did, and I became her little girl. She is very sweet, my mommy, and she also has other kids in her family. There are ten other girls in her family, and most are older, but two (Keisha and Wendy) are younger. All are also disabled, like me, but they all have different disabilities.
For example, my baby sister (Keisha; she is two) has Down's syndrome, as does my oldest sister, Linda (she is 14). My other little sister, Wendy (she is four) was burned and still has pain; there are days where I hear her crying in her room, and it upsets me. (She came from India.) Then there is Mariah, who is nine, and she has something called autism, which I really don't know anything about, but at times she does weird things, or she seems to be in her own little world, and it worries me when she acts like that. Then there are Sally and Sarah, who are ten, and both are in wheelchairs because they have cerebral palsy. They can't do a lot for themselves, and they often need a lot of help, but they ARE learning to talk, which is exciting! Then there are the other twins, Kelly and Kim, who are paralyzed and use wheelchairs too (but Kim can walk on crutches and braces on her legs while Kelly can't). They were born with something called spina bifida. Then there is Francie, who is twelve, and is mentally retarded, but she isn't bad off. She goes to a regular school, and she takes regular classes with regular kids. Then after her is Mary, 13, who was shaken as a baby and has problems with her moods and is slow to learn because of it, and that makes me sad because nobody should EVER shake a baby! They can hurt a baby that way! Finally there is Linda, who is our oldest sister at 14, and she has Down's syndrome and heart problems.
Then there is mommy. Her name is Kendra, and she is a very good mommy to take care of all of us girls. I asked her once why there are only girls in my family, and she said because the Lord told her to take in girls who were disabled because it is so hard to find homes for them, and I suppose that is true , but I sometimes wish I had a little brother! Maybe one day she will get a boy, but right now, there are only little girls in my family, and that is okay, but I wish we had boys, too.
Mommy has a disability too. She has water head, or hydrocephalus, and she has had to have surgery to have fluid drained from her head, to make the headaches stop; and she recently had another surgery, and she is back home, and she is getting better. Still, she does get tired and headachy at times, so we often have to help her out, especially if she lies down to rest her head, and I like helping out with my sisters and doing the chores.
Mommy has been kind of sad lately, but then last week she got a letter from a lady in Tennessee, and the lady that wrote to her is a mommy, too. She has 50 kids, and I thought OUR family was big....WOW!! 50 kids in ONE family!! Can you imagine that?? The lady sent her pictures of her kids, and they are a cool lookin' family! There's boys AND girls in that family, and a lot of the kids are disabled, too! But this lady (and her husband, the kids' daddy) both love them all very much, and they are really good with them. The lady even wrote a book about her family, but I can't remember the title; but after mommy is done with it, I would like to look at it or have her help me read it! Two of her kids wrote to mommy, too, and mommy is now very happy. She has been smiling and laughing more since coming home from the hospital, and it is very nice to hear mommy laughing again or seeing her smile again!
Maybe I will write to Mrs. Sandusky too and tell her about myself. I would like to write to her, she seems like a very nice lady with a big heart! Maybe I can even write to Johnny or Ronnee' too; that would be cool too if I could hear from them, too! (They are a bit older than me, Johnny and Ronnee'; they are my sister Kelly and Kim's age, which is 11.)
Well, I gotta' go; seems that Sarah did a stinky in her diapies, and I have to tell mommy that she stinks. ICK! I also have to tell mommy that Keisha and Wendy are fighting again over a toy. Bye; will write again soon!
Love, Mia Rochelle Williams, aged 7 years.
I forgot to say this, but I am in first grade, and may be going into grade two! Teacher says I am very smart for my age, so I may be going into second grade! I LOVE school, and I LOVE my teacher! (My teacher's name is Miss O'Hara, and she has long, red hair. She is really pretty, and she is really nice!)
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Reviewed by Robert Blackwell
3/24/2004
As always, a beautiful write. You have a gift for writing these types of stories, and bless many with them.
