https://www.happyherald.com/articles.sec-8493-1-chicken-soup-for-the-soul.html English class was not until after lunch period on Mondays, so by the time we started poetry, I was so nervous my mouth was dry as toast. When Mrs. Baker called on me, I had to clear my throat, take a breath and swallow about ten times before I could speak.]]> It all started when my brother got sick. I was 9, and he was just 9 months. My mother thought it was an ear infection because he kept grabbing his ear. The first doctor she took him to told her that it was an ear infection. After a week, he was still grabbing his ear.]]> My younger brother and I were home watching cartoons while my father slept and my mother was out shopping. I left my brother in the living room and went to get something to drink. As I was pouring some orange juice, I heard something break. First, I looked in to see if my father had woken up, and he hadn’t.]]> When I was six years old, I never thought I would feel happy inside again. My father had just died. He had been sick for a very long time and never could play with me. The Father’s Day after my father died, we had to make cards for our dads at school. I made mine for an angel.]]> Within the next hour, we had moved everything we could to the first floor. The computer, big-screen television and heavy boxes filled with our most valuable possessions were taken to safe ground. However, our piano, Ping-Pong table, sleeper sofa, laundry machine, dryer, furnace and water heater were all still down there—being destroyed.]]> As Mary read on, Anne’s interest in the prize grew. “Just send in one dollar with proof-of-purchase seal from this box and spell out your first name on the information blank. We will send you a special pin with your name spelled in gold. (Only one per family, please).]]> Jimmy was five when he and his parents adopted Neil. He still remembers that day in court when the judge called him up to the bench, all by himself, and said, “Today, it’s not just your mom and dad who accept the responsibility of raising another child.]]> He never tried to hide his disappointment from me. He was brutally honest. I guess I understood his feelings, living on a small farm in Iowa. He hoped a boy would help him with the farm and eventually step into his shoes. But a girl … I tried to do everything just to please Daddy.]]> At the carnival they had all kinds of booths. I was drawn to one in particular because of all the children that had gathered there. At this booth, anyone who wanted to could paint a square. ]]> He applied to 14 colleges. He was accepted to all but one, the one he wanted, Brown University. ]]> As I sat in the chair by the window and felt the warm June sunshine on my arm, I had to remind myself where I was. It was hard to believe that behind the nicely finished oak cabinets hid various medical equipment, and that in a moment's notice the ceiling tiles could be removed to reveal surgical lights.]]> I'd been living in foster care since I was two. My real mom couldn't give my five sisters and me the care we needed. Since we didn't have a dad or anyone else to care for us, we were put in different foster homes. I felt lonely and confused. I didn't know how to tell people that I hurt inside.]]>