Hi everyone. I’m Amelia. I’m 13 years old. I have an amazing life story. A homeless man adopted me! I can’t wait for the day I get to call him dad. You might wonder how that’s even possible. Once you hear my story, I’m sure you’ll
find it amazing too. I never knew my real dad and my mom passed
away when I was 8. I’m not going to say anything else about
my real parents because talking about them makes me really sad. So, yes, I became an orphan when I was little. I didn’t have any relatives that could take
me in so I was sent to live in an orphanage. People don’t think of orphanages as nice places but the other kids there,
and I were happy most of the time. Imagine a bunch of kids living together. We’d play all the time. The orphanage had a school
so we studied together too. Perhaps we all got along because we were all
there for the same reason. Most of the people working there who took
care of us were good to us too. Our lives at the orphanage were pretty good
but most kids still wanted to be adopted. We dreamed about it. Imagine – a family comes, meets with some
of the kids, and then picks one that would go to live with them. Only 4 or 5 kids would get lucky each month. We’d all get jealous of the ones
who got adopted. You know what was the main reason
for our jealousy? Because they’d get to call
two people mom and dad. You’d have to live in an orphanage to understand
how much we missed those words. I became one of the kids that was envied
when I was 12. I was adopted not by a family but a single
woman. She was a retired judge. I couldn’t sleep for a week when I learned
that she picked me. I’d dream about the moment I’d call her
mom for the first time. Parents would come to pick up
their new kids on Sundays. I said bye to my friends and everyone at the
orphanage after breakfast. My new mom came an hour later. As I was leaving, I thought this was the happiest
day of my life. But my excitement didn’t last long. Her name was Harriet. In our first conversation at home, she said
“You’ll call me Miss Harriet. I go to bed late and wake up late. I want my breakfast ready when I’m up.” I quickly realized that
she didn’t want a child, but a servant that she could train from a young age. She didn’t enroll me in a school, which is against the adoption requirements. I wasn’t allowed to leave the house
so I couldn’t report her. I swear I’m not exaggerating but she was
just like the stepmother in Cinderella. I spent my days working for her nonstop. She was never satisfied with anything I did. She’d scream at me every chance she got. I really missed the orphanage. At night, I’d cry under the covers. After 7-8 months, I resigned myself
to my new life. I knew I didn’t belong in that house but I was too young to think about escaping. I had noticed that Miss Harriet always kept
the front door locked so I could never leave the house,
not even to take out the trash. One day, I saw that Miss Harriet
was really sad. Her eyes were swollen from crying. For the first time in months, she talked to
me like I was a normal person. “Sit down” she said, so I did. It was the anniversary of
her husband’s death. She told me all about him just because she
wanted to share it with someone. I was surprised that such an evil woman could
love someone so much. She talked and cried and drank the whole time. Eventually she got really drunk. I couldn’t understand what she was saying
anymore but I still had to pretend I was listening. Finally, she passed out. I was about to go back to my room
when I noticed a key. It was lying on the coffee table. Everything happened so quickly. I picked it up. Once I realized that it was
the key for the front door, I unlocked the door and walked out
without any hesitation. I went outside and started walking. I didn’t stop until the sun
started coming up. I was very tired. I came across a bench. Again, without even thinking, I laid down
as if I just got to my own bed. I woke up to a woman standing by my feet. Her clothes were old and filthy. She had already taken off one of my shoes
and was trying get the other one. I tried pulling my foot away but she had a
tight grip on my shoe. Just then someone yelled, “Angela, leave
the girl alone” I looked to see who it was. It was a man dressed in rags. The two of them were obviously homeless. Walking towards us, he said “What will she
wear if you take her shoes? Look, she’s sleeping
on the streets like us”. So the woman named Angela let me go unwillingly. That’s how I met Gary. It was my first time talking
to a homeless person. He had been living on the streets for 9 years
and had a very sad story. He lost his wife and two daughters
in a train accident. After that, he was overwhelmed by grief and
couldn’t bring himself to do anything. He stopped going to work,
and stayed home all day in the dark. A while later he lost his job and couldn’t
pay his rent so he started living on the streets. He was such a good man and super funny. He made me laugh all the time. I started living with him on the streets. Once he heard my story, he wanted me
to go back to the orphanage. But I told him that Miss Harriet would definitely
come and take me from there. Reporting her would be useless. She was a judge. They’d believe her instead of a kid. So he said “Okay then you can stay with
me for a while”. “We’ll look for a better place for you later.” “Deal” I said, nodding my head, but I didn’t want to leave him at all. Because it was the first time that I felt
safe and relaxed with an adult. Gary taught me the main rule of living on
the street: “If you’re homeless,
you need to look it. After all, we live on other people’s charity. I could go to a bathroom and wash my face. But who would give money to a clean,
well-dressed person?” He was right. So I did as he said. I made my face and clothes look
as dirty as possible. One lesson and I had the perfect
homeless look. We had to beg in the street before each meal. Once we had made enough money, we’d go ahead
and buy something to eat right away. That’s why we never had money for the next
meal. One day, after we had enough money
for breakfast, we went to a bakery. Business owners usually tried to get rid of
us as quickly as possible so we wouldn’t bother the other customers. But the woman at the bakery was really nice. She smiled and said, “Good morning. It’s your lucky day because everything is
free for girls your age today.” Gary said, “Thank you but today we have
money. Is it possible that a girl her age can get
some free stuff another time?” he asked, and was about to give her our change. Suddenly we heard a noise behind us. We turned to see what happened and saw that
an older customer had fallen. The woman took out her cell phone in a panic. The old man was on the floor, not moving. Gary put his cup on the counter,
and kneeled next to the man. He touched the man’s neck with his hand. He closed his eyes and started counting. Then he put his hands together and pressed
on the man’s chest. Just then, the bakery owner said, “Don’t touch him. I called an ambulance. A doctor should be doing this.” Gary told her, “I am a doctor. His pulse is around 20. We can’t wait for the ambulance. We have to act now” and continued pressing
his hands on the man’s chest. That old man was so lucky that Gary was there. He never told me what his job had been so I was surprised to find out that he was adoctor. In fact, he was a brain surgeon, but of course he knew what to do when
someone was having a heart attack. Later he told me more about his old life. One day, he had to travel to another city
to perform a surgery. But it was his birthday the next day. So his wife and kids decided to surprise him
by taking the train to visit him, and you already know what happened after that. The owner of the bakery refused to let us
pay. Gary insisted but she said, “It’s your lucky day. Everything is free for anyone
who saves someone’s life today.” We ended up getting to know her that day. Her name is Sadie. I think she’s as funny as Gary. She lives with her mom. “I’d invite you over for dinner, but my mom may not be ready to have
two homeless people coming by” she said, and we all cracked up. The next day was a Sunday and we made plans
to have a picnic in a park. We had to beg in the streets longer than usual
to buy all the stuff for the picnic. Guess what happened next? Gary and Sadie started falling for each other. One day Sadie joked, “I decided to close
the bakery and live with you on the streets because the only way I’ll be able to tolerate
your smell is if start smelling like you.” Gary said, “You know, that would be too
much trouble. Instead of you smelling like us, we could
start smelling like you. We just need a bath”. That was a turning point in our lives. Of course one bath wasn’t enough but it
was a first step. Now we all live together. We have a lot of plans for the future, but the first one is for Gary and Sadie to get married. Then they’re going to officially adopt me. After that I’ll be able to call them
mom and dad. That’s what they want. I already feel like saying it now
but I stop myself. But I can tell you! They are my dear mom and dear dad
– my lucky stars. My real mom would always pray
“May God bring good people into your life”. That’s exactly what happened. I hope the prayers someone says for you will
come true one day too. Did you like my story? If you like stories based on real events, subscribe to this channel. Bye for now.
