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March 17, 1999
1 day old~ I was born at home in my living room on March 17, 1999. My mother was alone; my father was working in the field and didn't get notified until after, my brother was at school and the doctor couldn't be reached. -
Oct. 20, 2002
3 years old~ I remember my mother standing at the stove in the kitchen frying bacon and mixing pancakes for me and Abram before preschool and my father getting ready for work. We were all upbeat and lighthearted back then. -
March 17, 2004
5 years old~ It was my fifth birthday and we celebrated at a restaurant in the city, which was and is the biggest celebration I've had for my birthday. Both my parents and my brother were there and I remember eating three pieces of cake that night and going to bed at twelve that nigh because we all stayed up to play board games. -
Sept. 1, 2004
5 years old~ My father walked me into school on the first day of elementary school and I clutched his jacket, refusing to let go and bawling as he comforted me until I finally let go. -
Jan. 8, 2006
7 years old~ It was late at night and my parents still hadn't come home from one of the late night shifts they picked up. Abram was asleep but I stayed awake all night until the finally came home at six o'clock in the morning and yelled at me for staying up. -
May 21, 2006
7 years old~ After coming home from school, I overheard an argument between my parents about our financial problems, how the oncoming baby was just going to greaten our problems and how "the children are such a burden to have". -
Oct. 5, 2007
8 years old~ My little sister Alexandra was born on October 5, 2007 at 1:57am in Dr. Yolkin's makeshift clinic in his basement five houses down. She came out silent and didn't cry for another half hour; we all assumed she was defected but she is one of the smartest kids in her class today. -
Nov. 19, 2008
9 years old~ I got pulled out of school around 12:00 by my parents and we headed down to the sheriff station where my brother was being held for skipping school, drug usage and minor theft of the local gas station with a bail of $500 which was paid by my parents who then dropped us both off at home and left to work in the fields, not returning until morning and not uttering a word to us until they came home. -
March 17, 2009
10 years old~ It was my birthday and the first year we didn't celebrate it, even though all the other years there was just a small cupcake to celebrate. That year my parents didn't even come home until eleven o'clock at night, going straight to bed and since then, I've never celebrated another birthday. -
Aug. 6, 2009
10 years old~ Abram started college at Moscow State University with a small financial aid scholarship and his college savings, staying in the dorms for a full month before being kicked out before school even started and then having to live at home, adding to Mom and Dad's annoyances. -
Sept. 1, 2010
11 years old~ It's my first day of middle school and unlike my first day of elementary school, I am not accompanied by my parents; they aren't even home when I wake up and I have to walk three miles to school. -
Sept. 15, 2010
11 years old~ After being in middle school for two weeks, I meet my soon-to-be best friend Viktor Ivanov after choosing him as my science lab partner, which was a mistake because he combined the wrong mixtures and ruined the project, creating a mini explosion and claiming it to be accidental. -
Feb. 29, 2012
12 years old~ While sifting through our storage closet, I stumble across a photo album my parents put together with aged and worn pictures shoved haphazardly in the pockets, but the album obviously hasn't been touched for years; dust has collected on the book and the last picture put in is from when I was seven. -
Dec. 11, 2012
13 years old~ I slipped on ice while walking home and walked to the nearest clinic, then taken to the hospital for x-rays, where I found out I had dislocated my shoulder. I tried contacting my parents, but they failed to answer and when they came home later that day, they also failed to realize I had my right arm in a sling. -
Feb. 4, 2013
13 years old~ I found $5 on the street, but instead of giving it to my parents, I buy a lottery ticket and upon finding out it was the winning ticket, I celebrated and rushed to tell my parents, only to find that I had lost the ticket, making it impossible to claim the $10,000 I had won; my parents didn't talk to me for a week. -
Jan. 16, 2014
14 years old~ I wake up to find that Alexandra has pneumonia and a note from my parents, asking me to take care of her and telling me there is Tylenol in the cupboard above the sink and do not take her to the doctor because our insurance does not cover this. I give her the medicine but it doesn't do much and she remains sick for the next two weeks, both of which I must stay home and watch her. -
April 26, 2014
15 years old~ Viktor convinces me to come to a party his older brother is hosting and after convincing Abram to stay with Alexandra, I leave the house to meet up with Viktor. This is the first time I've been out of the house for something other than school in the past ten years. -
Oct. 16, 2015
16 years old~ I get called to the principal's office and he tells me I have earned a scholarship, granting me the money and the chance to become a foreign exchange student in England during the second semester. I decline at first, thinking of my family, but after encouragement from the school, my little sister and Viktor, I accept. -
Dec. 15, 2015
16 years old~ I'm sitting in first class on an airplane, getting served Sprite and cookies as I fly to England, admiring Russia from above and thinking of how much Alexandra would love this, making me wish she was here. -
Dec. 15, 2015
16 years old~ I lay awake in a full sized bed with a memory foam mattress and goose down pillows, thinking about Alexandra and how scared she must be as she lays in her bed, home alone with only the nanny to keep her company. -
Dec. 15, 2015
16 years old~ I meet my host family for the first time; Mr and Mrs West are extremely friendly and welcoming, hugging me the minute they see me, while Violet stands ten feet away with her arms crossed and an annoyed look on her face, drilling her angry eyes into my chest as I say introduce myself to her. -
Dec. 25, 2015
16 years old~ I sit in front of the hearth, the fire warming my face as Mr and Mrs West hand out neatly wrapped gifts from under the tree, but all I can think about is Alexandra and how she is probably alone right now with the nanny, sitting at the kitchen table eating globs of cold oatmeal and staring out the window at the blizzard taking place. -
Jan. 1, 2016
16 years old~ It's New Years Eve at midnight and Mr and Mrs West set off fireworks, but as they crackle and explode, all I'm thinking about is Alexandra; she hates fireworks.