Liam,12

by Liam Wickstrom
(Hilmar, CA, USA)

Gotcha Day

Every year on December 13, my family and I celebrate Gotcha Day. Gotcha Day is when my parents came to China and adopted me. For the celebration of my day we watch my Gotcha Day videos and have a party. My first Gotcha Day was when I was five years old. Today I am twelve years old and I have celebrated seven.

The first time I met my parents I remember they seemed exceedingly tall. I remember that I was very frightened when I saw them. I thought they were a couple of aliens with white hair coming to kidnap me. The first day they just came to meet me at the orphanage. The second day I actually left with them.

After about one week my new family and I took a 12-hour airplane ride home. When I first saw my new house I thought it was the largest house I had ever seen. The house was so large that I thought I was going to have to share it with other orphans. The most difficult part of being in a new country was the language. It took me about six to seven months to completely learn English.

Today, seven years after I got adopted, a lot of things have changed. One, I became good at gymnastics. Secondly, I have mastered taekwondo. Also, I am in school now and I got straight A’s on my last report card. Finally and, most importantly, my family don’t seem like aliens anymore.

Gotcha Day is my favorite day of the year. I feel blessed getting adopted by my wonderful family. I am luckier than most kids. I am thankful to have been chosen from the orphanage. I feel very happy in this family. It’s great to have a lot of relatives who love me.