This I Believe
What if we had our entire life planned out for us? What would happen if there were no surprises? But when bad things happen , we cant let them keep us down. You have to get back up again and keep going. I believe that you can always change the unexpected bad things in life, for the better.
Meeting new people, starting over in a new place or even building relationships with people you know can be a difficult task. Maybe some one you think to be completely different than you can turn out exactly alike. Many new people turn out differently than you would have thought. My first year of middle school, I thought this about two of the most annoying, stuck up, preppy, brand name wearing brats of the whole 6th grade, That they weren’t and never could be anything like me. These girls were my enemies back then. Now a days, I could never live with out Jessica Griffitt, and Allison Brown. We are the best of friends along with 3 other girls, who I practically call sisters. I would never guess that we would end up like this! This friendship was very unexpected.
The surprises don’t stop here! Everyone knows there brothers, and sisters, and moms and dads, and uncles and aunts, and grandparents, correct? What a surprise would it be to discover another sibling? This thought had never crossed my mind until summer of 06. Sitting on beach front porch, looking out into the black sky and ocean, my cousin Lynn-Taylor told me that I have another sister. Not quite a full sister, but a half sister. But WOW! So many questions rushed through my head all at once! What is her name? Where does she live? Does she look like me? Little did I know another surprise. I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone of my new sister! There was no way on the planet that anyone could ever answer my questions. I wasn’t even supposed to know of this girl’s existence. This presented a few problems. Anyone who knows me knows that I can NOT keep important things bottled up inside. They have to come out! I lasted about 6 months after that night at the beach. Fortunately it came it was my mother who heard the news… not someone who wouldn’t understand. But what broke my heart even more than just finding out about this huge piece of my life that was missing, was what came next. I wasn’t to speak of this girl to anyone in my family. That she WASN’T our family. She wasn’t a planned part of my life. Kind of ironic huh? But you never know life is unscripted unplanned and unedited. Who says she cant be in my life?
The suprises don’t stop even here. They only get bigger. Not many kids at the age of 5 relize what getting adopted by another parent means. Its not something you can plan for at that age. Most would go by what other kids might say , or what they have seen in other places. One memory that sticks out clearly in my mind is sitting on my biological dads lap in a Jessamine county court house. From that day on a few things had changed in my life, my name from Dotson to Chanda. My leagal dad from Stephen to Chris. And my idea of a real father from someone who made you, to some one who cares for you. Five years later Stephen Dotson died. This time in my life I was only 10 years old, and very confused. I couldn’t confess to anyone what I was feeling or thinking. Was I supposed to except this man who calls me his daughter? Or stay true to my real dad? The first time I visited my dads grave, my grandmother told me that I should be grateful for my new dad. That he was a gift to my family from God, because my dad wouldn’t be able to watch out for us for much longer. Another big influence on my life. Even though I never thought I could , I love Chris Chanda like a father.
Everyday there are new surprises, new discoveries and new findings. Weather you want them or not. You can change things for the better. Make the best out of a bad situation. Now instead of me having no dad, I have two. One in my heart, and one by my side.