Then it hit me. This Mom was different； she wasn’t going to get rid of me. She really did love me. And I realized I loved her， too. I cried and hugged her.
In 1985， when Mom formally adopted me， our whole family celebrated at a restaurant. It felt good belonging to someone. But I was still scared. Could a mom really love me forever？ My tantrums didn’t disappear immediately， but as months passed， they happened less often.
Today I’m 16. I have a 3.4 grade point average， a horse named Dagger’s Point， four cats， a dog， six doves and a bullfrog that lives in our backyard pond. And I have a dream： I want to be a veterinarian.
Mom and I like to do things together， like shopping and horseback riding. We smile when people say how much we look alike. They don’t believe she’s not my real mom.
I’m happier now than I ever imagined I could be. When I’m older， I’d like to get married and have kids， but if that doesn’t work out， I’ll adopt like Mom did. I’ll pick a scared and lonely kid and then never， ever give up on her. I’m so glad Mom didn’t give up on me.
我躺在地板上，瘋狂地蹬腿和狂叫，直到聲音嘶啞，這都是因為我的養母非要我把玩具收起來。
“我恨你。”我尖叫著，當時我六歲，不明白我為什麽那麽生氣。
我兩歲時被人收養。生母不能給予我們姐妹六人所需要的照顧。我們也沒有父親或是其他人來照料，於是我們被送到不同的養父母家裏。我感到孤獨、煩惱，不知道怎麽跟別人訴說我內心的傷痛。發脾氣成了我宣泄情感的唯一途徑。
因為我很調皮，最終，我現在的養母又把我送回了收養所，正如我先前的那位母親一樣。我覺得自己確實是一個最不招人喜歡的女孩。
後來，我見到凱特·麥肯。那時我七歲，她來看我時，我正跟我的第三任養父母住在一起。養母告訴我，凱特是單身，想收養一個孩子，我不知道她會選擇我。我無法想象有人會願意讓我跟他們永遠生活在一起。