I remember the day like it was yesterday the thought of fear, the pain I felt and the sadness that was around me. That day started like any other day where my mother would wake me up so I could get ready for the school day. I did the basics [run-on sentence] I brushed my hair, brushed my teeth, and got dressed for my day, but there was not a thought in my mind that I was going to get tremendous new later that would change me forever. 

My bubbly nine-year-old self hopped on the bus to go to my 3rd- grade class full of my friends and my favorite teacher. As I stepped off the bus to walk into the crowded noise filled elementary school I got filled with excitement because I knew I would get to see, hear, and tell all the amazing things me and my classmates got for Christmas. As the day went on we did the normal stuff from share what we got, to doing work, and getting homework for later in the day.

After the day was almost over, I got a note from the school saying to ride my [possessive error] Aunts bus to her house [run-on sentence] I didn’t think much about it because sometimes I would have to do that after school. As I got onto the loud bus full of shrieking kids I never thought that my mother would say these horrible four words to me.

As I got to my [possessive error] aunts she asked us cheerfully how our day was and asked the normal stuff that any mother asks their kids or even any kids when they get home from school. I told her what I did and all the cool stuff that kids in my class got and how I wanted some of the things they got. She then told me that my stepmom will later be picking me up and will be taking me to her house for a little bit. As my nine-year-old self, I thought it was a bit out of the ordinary because it wasn’t a Wednesday or the weekend so I didn’t know why she was getting me that day.

After my stepmom picked me up from [possessive error] aunts house we got my siblings from school then went out to eat as a family. Later we went back to the house and she gave me my presents from my grandma that I didn’t get to receive on Christmas day. She handed me the blob of wrapping paper with something hard and fluffy inside of it. As I ripped the Christmas paper it was a red ladybug pillow pet. As a nine-year-old that was the highlight of my day.

As we go into the car to head to what I thought I would be home she started talking to me saying weird things like “ I just want you to know I’m here for you” and “If you need anything me and your dad will help you [punctuation error] ” I thought it was weird that she was saying these things to me especially when nothing was wrong and I was having a good day but, I just went along with [missing word] and said “Ok” and “Thank you”[punctuation error] . 

As we pulled into my aunt's driveway I remember being confused about why I’m here? and why is my family here? and why didn’t I get to go home? As we walked into the house I could see the sadness and sorrow on their face. My mom consciously walked up to me with the depressing look on her face and said honey we need to talk I knew then that my life would be shaken when she said those words. “Our house burnt down” [run-on sentence] all I could think about was my stuff, and my room that is gone, and how everything I just got for Christmas was gone, and all the memories that I got to make in the house are gone.EVERYTHING! was gone. I started to sob uncontrollably with the thoughts bouncing around my head and the fear I was feeling and what was going to happen next. 

As the night went on we ate dinner at my aunt's house and tried to figure out what was going on. As the adults talked you could hear the worry [incorrect word here] ness in their voices and the fear of what to do next and the confusion of how it happened. When the adults got done talking my mom walked up to me and my siblings who were sitting together crowded around the TV and asked if we wanted to go to the hotel with them or stay at my aunt's house for the night but, [punctuation error] all I could think about was how I wanted to go home and take a deep slumber in my bed and to be in my cozy room but as bad as I wanted to, I knew it was all gone. 

Later that night we went to a hotel where we ended up staying for a couple of months until the insurance got us a rental house where we would be living for almost two years until the house got done being built. As I look back on the event it still makes me sad as I wonder why it happened to me and why it had to happen three times in my life. Since I’m older I understand that everything happens for a reason and maybe the reasons why it happened to me were beneficial and I know for sure that those events made me grow as a person and formed me into who I am today.