As my mom rushed to the hospital on September 5th, 2000, she was supposed to be at her parents house for my papa's birthday, but instead she was going to the hospital. That's right, I was born September 6th, 2000 at 6:30 pm, the day after my papa's birthday. My mom was in labor for quite a while, but I finally came. I was 7 pounds 6 ounces when I was born and I had crooked pinkies and webbed pinkie toes, but it was only my pinkies that were unique. Cole, my brother, got to pick my name. My mom wanted to name me Carley, somehow though my brother came up with the name Cora. I’m not sure how he came up with it because he was just a little kid that did not really know anything, he was only 9 years old.

Over my life of only 13 years I have learned a lot through my life, but I've learned is don't let other people take control of your life. Make sure you are in charge, and live your life to the fullest. Yes, there will be downs to your life but just know that every time there is something bad that happens there will always be something good. The main thing though is just know everything in your life happens for a reason.

When I was about 1 ½ or 2 years old I went on a plane for the very first time to go to Florida with my family. I was really excited for this, I did not really know what to expect I was a little kid, but once we got there I had a blast. I was a very friendly little kid, I said,”Hello,” to about every person I saw, most of them answered with, “Hi whats your name?” or, “Hello”, but then some other people just kept walking. They probably thought I was a crazy little kid because I was so friendly and I loved to talk to strangers.

I started playing t ball when I was 5 years old. I was playing with a bunch of guys and eventually moved on to play baseball with that team of boys and I think there was one girl. I played for about five years I would say and there was one game that I remember like it was just yesterday, and that was when we went to a championship game in Milwaukee and I was standing in the outfield and a ball came flying towards me and I caught it and just stood there with it for a while, then I realized what was happening I finally threw the ball to home plate to get that person out and the catcher caught it and we won the game. A few months later I quit because my dad yelled at me for a mistake that I made and then I got mad so I decided to just quit if he was gonna yell at me about a little mistake that had happened.

I was about 6 years old when grandpa passed away from esophagus cancer. I did not know him very well but for what I remember of him he was a great grandpa. He always did the peace out sign or the hang loose sign to people and he gave great big hugs. He was my favorite grandparent of all. He survived esophagus cancer for about 4 years but it kept getting worse so his lungs just collapsed.

The next year when I was seven my family and I went to go visit my aunt, uncle, and cousins, and we stayed there for valentines day, but that night we went to the bowling alley and we didn't come back till later that night. My cousins dog didn't really like people because he was a protective dog. He was a Alaskan Fighting dog. My aunt told my cousins not to let the dog in but they did anyways and then everything went wrong because the my mom wanted a drink so I went and got her a drink out of the garage and I came back in and the dog was just glaring at me. The next thing I know the dog is on top of me biting me, luckily I put my hand up so he didn't bite me in the face instead he bit me in the chest. My dad jumped on top of the dog and pried him off of me and all I was wear now was pants and a white tank top because my other shirt got ripped. We all jumped in the car and rushed to the hospital because I needed 15 stitches, all I remember after that was getting medicine and falling asleep watching Dora the Explorer and when I woke up all I remember is watching Dora the Explorer.

First grade I had Mrs. Lindow as a teacher, she passed away from cancer a few years ago, but everyday we usually had inside recess and it was the bomb, Chance, Danny, Shamous, and I always played house or dogs. We were some weird little kids but at that time for us in first grade it was really fun but by the end of the year we all stopped playing, because we had outside recess or we played something else when we had inside recess. In the middle of first grade going into second grade my babysitters daughter, I call her my sister anyways, got married and me and her daughter, Vayda, were the flower girls I messed up when I threw the flowers because I only threw the flowers on one side of the aisle instead of both sides of the aisle.

The third grade for me was probably my best year, but I was stuck in a class with mostly guys. I even had a guy teacher, Mr. Fuchs, but he was the best teacher. Every year in elementary school we had a pop tab competition in the middle of the year and I won but in third grade we won by A LOT and I mean A LOT I brought in five big buckets. I got all the pop tabs from my moms friend because hes in the MDA tub run and I help out every year with it.

Ever since my grandpa passed away I always sleep my closet doors closed because it was a few years after my grandpa passed away but I woke up in the middle of the night and I forgot to close my closet doors before I went to bed and I woke up and looked into the closet and I thought I saw 3 figures, I always said that the three figures were Jesus, my grandpa, and god. Ever since that day I haven’t been able to sleep with my closet doors open.

July 31, 2009 my sister got married and I was her bridesmaid. It was probably the best day until it came to the reception party at the end of the night. I had to dance with my brother, he threw me up in the air, it was really scary. Then I had to dance with this other dude named Tyler and I barely knew him. Then my sister and my brother-in-law had to dance and I guess my sister found out about the grooms party for Troy and she ran out of the place because she was mad, she started walking down the highway, and then my brother had to chase after her because she was drunk and so she would not get hurt. I started crying a couple days later because I did not get the point of getting married. What I thought it meant was that my sister was married to a guy her age and that she was not part of my family anymore because she had a totally different last name than me and I thought I would never see my older sister and role model again until I go and visit her, but that was totally not true I see her all the time now.

About two years later I suspected my parents were going to get a divorce because all they did was fight and fight and fight and there is usually only one thing people do after a while and that is get divorced. I prayed and prayed they would not get divorced but they did. I woke up one day to screaming and fighting

I was laying in bed and finally fell asleep but then my dad pulled up and he went straight to the shower, I drift back off into a light sleep. A few hours later I heard screaming and yelling about how my mom was a bad person and a bad wife and that she was the reason why my dad was doing what he was doing. Finally, my dad walked out of the bedroom and out of the house and jumped in his truck and drove away my mom came into my bedroom crying. All of a sudden I started crying because I didn't really know what was happening but I had the idea that my parents were sooner or later going to get divorced

Next thing I know I'm moving in with my sister and her husband. It was fun because well I was living with my sister but the thing was I thought me and my mom were pulling their marriage apart too. We lived there for about two years because my mom while getting divorced couldn't afford to buy a new house. My mom for like the first year and a half always cried I hated it so much because like we really couldn't go out and do anything. She started getting better but every now and then she would become all sad and just sit around the house all day and really do anything but cry. I felt so bad because like I didn't know what I could do and tell you the truth to help my mom I couldn't really do anything.

Me and my mom finally got our own place in town and moved out of my sisters house. It was fun but I was sad because I don't like moving from house to house because it takes me a while to adjust to a new house. To move in it took my mom and I about a month with all the stuff we took from my dads house. At the end of us moving to the new house I made my mom promise we would never move again until I’m older and out of school but now it looks like we are moving again to a new house.

Now I only see my sibling whenever our family goes on vacation to places otherwise when we have dinner nights at my moms every Thursday. My sister doesn't see my dad anymore they don't really have any contact anymore. My brother lives with my dad full time and is thinking of moving out. To end with I live with my dad every other week and usually all I do at his house is sit in my bedroom.

My dad yells at me for not talking to him some days but yet again he doesn't talk to me. Then other days at his house are really fun. My dad is the one who got me into doing 4-H stuff and showing in the fair every summer, he is the person who made me be the way i am today. People say at time I act exactly like my father and some days I take that offensive because at time my dad is a little mean but some days when people say I act like him I'm proud to be like my father. When I grow up though I hope I'm not the type of parent he is to me because hes not there for me when I need him some days I want to tell him something but then I get in the car and I’m scared to tell him so I end up not telling him anything or even for that matter I don't really even talk to him unless he makes any attempt to talk to me.

I have really learned a lot in my 13 years of life and i still have a lot more to learn. Just remember though that there will be ups and downs to your life but everything will get better. Everything bad happens just so something good can come out of it, everything happens for a reason.