On October 19th, 2006 I was born in the country of Guatemala. For the first 9 months of my life, I was placed with a loving foster family who took care of me and loved me.   Meanwhile, in America,  a couple in New York received a phone call from the adoption agency, saying that a little girl needed her forever family.  My parents immediately started crying from happiness. They received a picture of me and they said they knew instantly that I was going to be their forever daughter.
Six months after they received the phone call, they came to Guatemala to spend the weekend with me, however, they weren’t allowed to take me home just yet because there was paperwork that still needed to be filled out.  Happily, not too much time went by before they came to pick me up and bring me home forever.
This is a picture of all of us on a plane back to New York City where I was going to start my new life and meet the rest of my family. 
When we got home, my older brother Leo was asleep in his room.  My parents thought it would be a fun way to introduce us to each other by putting me next to him in his bed.  He felt surprised and excited.  I don’t remember how I felt in that moment, but little did I know that my life had just changed. 
This is a picture of what that moment looked like.

– RS

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant