My life StoryBy: Hannah G!lley

I dedicate this book to my family. They have always been a big part of my life and I am blessed to have them in my life.

Table of Contents

...................................................................................................................A Happy Time! 1

.................................................................................................A Special Family Member! 2

......................................................................................................................A Hard Time! 3

...............................................................................................................................A Birth! 4

.......................................................................................................................High School! 5

...............................................................................................................................Kittens! 6

..........................................................................................................................My Name! 7

.............................................................................................................My Neighborhood! 8

............................................................................................................A Special Birthday! 9

.............................................................................................................Life in Wisconsin! 10

...............................................................................................Childhood Favorite Game! 11

A Happy Time

I just got home from my grandparents house. My family and I had moved into a new house on Kane St. My neighborhood consisted of 8 houses. Two were to the left of my house and six to the right. In front of my house was a big garden. The back of my house was almost all dirt. I would dig in the dirt and always find real seashells. Mostly whole ones and a few little pieces. My dad and my brother had built a bird house together. I watched as my dad lifted my brother up to the tree while he nailed it into the trunk. A few weeks later my dad had bought us a swing set. It had a teeter- totter, two swings, and a baby swing. It also had another swing where you could rest your feet on a platform. The swing set was a dark green. I was always smiling like a new born baby and laughing, when I was on that swing set. My dad would give us under dogs, which would always give me butterflies. We laughed together. The swing set laughed with us, but its laugh was squeaky. After awhile the swing set kept coming out of the ground, so my dad put concrete around the ends of the poles. We wrote our names in it. When he pushed me I would go so high,I swear I could touch the sky. All around us there were beautiful lilacs. They smelled like my mother. The birds sang, sang, and sang again. All day long they would sing. Sometimes we drive by that old house. The swing set is still there. Standing strong just how we wanted it to.

A Special Family Member

I love everyone in my family, but there is one special person. My mom. She is very special to me because she’s always there for me. We fight a lot, but we always make amends. My mom is a very independent person. She is like a teenager at times, moody, but isn’t everyone? My mom’s name is Danielle. She has dark hair and a pretty smile. Her eyes are chocolate, dark brown. Her hair flows down her back in long curls. My mom always tries to do the best for me. I do not know who I’d be without her there giving me advice and consequences, when I need them. She is also special to me because she has taught me many lessons about life. One is that you can change. My mom used to be an alcoholic. She has divorced twice. With her latest husband she was being held by a string. Did not know where to go or what to do. So she turned to alcohol. Things began to go downhill from there. Some nights, no one went out. Some nights, no one stayed in. Sometimes we lived like chickens. Cooped up in our rooms for hours. My mom always tried to help, but was held by a string. Now she is completely sober and gets along well with my brother, my sister and I. We are much happier. She has changed in so many ways. My mom is very kind, loving, and the kind of person you can trust. My mom as influenced me in so many ways. She is my most special family member.

A Hard Time The moon shines bright through her window. The trees sway along with the heavy breeze. The night’s air is cold, making her pull the covers farther over her shoulders. She dreams of the place where no one gets hurt, no one screams, no one is left behind. A world that is not constantly at war. A world where no one is without someone to care for them. No one is left to die and no one is left to starve. Outside the leaves on the trees dance with the ones they are tied to forever. The dogs bark over and over, never stopping, the horses fret from hunger, and the goats yell like us. In her world the dogs are snuggled up at her feet, the horses are calm, and the goats are quiet. The world she desires is out of her reach. She can’t go far with no money. Having no money is the way every one lives now a days. It seams like no one has anything, but each other. “Hello mom”, she would say every morning. “Hello”, she would reply. There was no asking what was for breakfast because she knew there would be nothing. Her moms hands were tied as she sat on the couch. This is what her mom did everyday since there was no work. “Lets go for a walk”, she suggested to her mom. “Sure”, was her mom’s reply. They walked up and down the streets full of people. The streets were not full because there was a carnival in town, but because the streets were their home. Back at her home, her mom sat on the couch again. There would be no snack because there was none. “The day will be perfect when no one gets hurt, no one screams, no one is left behind. A day when our world is not constantly at war. A world where no one is without some one to care for them. No one is left to die and no one is left to starve”, her mom says to her. “I know mom”, she says.

A Birth

My brother is very important to me. He is 11 now. Here is the story of his birth. I was 4 when my brother was born. My mom would come home from work and my sister and I would ask her “When is the baby coming”. She would always respond with “Soon girls”. He did not come for a while. One night my mom was rushed to the hospital. My sister and I were staying at my grandparents house that night, so we did not go to the hospital right away. When my grandma received the news she put my sister and I into her van and drove us to the hospital. The next morning my brother was born. My mom named him Maxwell, but he is never called that. We call him Max. My sister and I, being twins, wore almost the same sweatshirt that day. Mine had said I’m a big sister and my sisters said Me too. I got to hold him in the hospital. He was so small. He looked at me and smiled. It was then that it hit me. I am now a big sister. My mom has told me that I never left him alone. I was always trying to play with him or I was squeezing him. When my mom left the room, for a while, she would put him in a swing that hooked onto the door frame. He hated it. He would scream and flair his arms everywhere like a fish out of water. Lots of times I would hear a big boom and max had hit his head on the edge of counter, the end of the table, or on the floor. I always felt bad for him, but there was nothing I could do. It seams like he was always running into things. When we would go someplace, it always took us a while because now there were three kids that need to be buckled into their carseats. No one liked the carseats. They were a pain to get into. My brother is joy. So creative and beautiful. His birth was very special to me.

High SchoolBlack Orange

Walking, Watching, WaitingMany things to do

Fun like a bounce house

KittensPlayful, Loud

Jumping, Screaming, scratchingAre cute and cuddly

Animal

My Name My name is the sight of a robin in the spring. It is the color of a light pink rose, as it sways in the light breeze. My name means favor, grace. How I got my name is like many others. My mom got it out of a baby name book. So my name does not have any family connections. In fact, I'm the only one in my family with the name Hannah. My name is not unique. Hannah comes from a Hebrew origin, which has no meaning to me because I am not Hebrew. When I think of my name, I think of joy. Hannah is a very common name, unlike Yonic. I like my name and I would not want to change it, but the meaning does not fit. I am not graceful. I trip going up stairs and I seam to knock things off of places. I believe that a name can fit a person. Think of your name. When you think of having a different name, it doesn't seam right. It feels weird. That is because your name is your name and that is the only name that fits.

My Neighborhood

My neighborhood is dull like a pencil at the end of the school day. There are many houses, but you do not see many people. The houses are all different, but somehow they look the same. There are dusty brown houses, like mine, and blue ones. In the winter when I walk out the door, in the morning, there are bunny tracks in the snow. There are plenty of kids in my neighborhood, but most of them are too young to be my friend. There is a small park on the corner near my house. It has a swing set with two swings that squeak and shake, when you swing too high. There is a rusty blue mary go round that yells at you every time you try to use it. There is a soccer field with bright green grass in the spring. The park is covered in wood chips that force you to wear your sandals in the summer time. My neighborhood is mostly quiet besides a few passing cars. When the sky begins to darken, you can see the moon from my bedroom window. Sometimes snakes will slither under your porch and peak there head through the cracks. The side walks are usually never empty. In the spring the trees sway with the breeze. Sometimes fast, Sometimes slow. Summertime my neighborhood is full of bright colors. Flowers everywhere. Some pink, some red, some yellow. The trees are red, green and yellow. gogs are everywhere. Almost every house has a dog or two. My neighborhood is peaceful like the autumn wind. When the leaves have all fallen, the kids are out jumping in piles of them. Laughing and laughing at each other when they fall into the piles. My neighborhood is mine.

A Special Birthday

Outside my bedroom window it was raining. I could hear it hitting my window. It was April so it rained a lot. I got out of my bed and got out of my pajamas and into a nice dress. It was a saturday and also my birthday. I was now twelve. I didn’t feel any older or look any older. After a few minutes, I walked down stairs. It was unusually quiet for a saturday. I turned the corner into the kitchen and everyone was sitting there at the table. They were eating breakfast. “Hi guys”, I said to them. “Hi”, my brother replied. “Do you know what today is”? I asked. “No” my mom said.I was surprised her nose wasn’t growing like pinocchios. Her face said she really did know. They all looked away when I had asked them. I let it go and sat down to eat with them. After breakfast, it was a normal saturday. I watched TV and waited for someone to take notice that it was my birthday. It was like waiting for the hot water to heat up in the shower. I went up into my room, sat on my bed and read. When I came back downstairs, there were presents, Happy Birthday banners, and a cake. I walked over to the presents and noticed a box with a lot of holes in it. As I was trying to get it open, my family came around the corner, sat on the couches and started singing Happy Birthday to me. I pulled away from the box with the holes in it and listed to them sing to me. After we ate the cake my mom had made, we gathered in the living room to open presents. I opened my presents real fast trying to get to the box with a lot of holes in it. When I got to it, I reached down to pick it up and I heard a noise. I looked up to my mom like I just saw a ghost. “Go ahead. Open it.”, my mom told me.I smiled and pulled off the lid. A kitten looked up at me. I looked down at her. I quickly took it out and hugged it. I put it down and it yelled at me. It was a tiny kitten, but I still loved it. It was the best present I had ever gotten. It was a very special birthday.

life in Wisconsin

When you think of Wisconsin you think of cheese, farms, factories, cold, and snow. The winters are cold and everywhere you look it’s white. The trees, the sidewalk, the buildings, all white. You see people in puffy jackets and mittens. You also see them in heavy boots and knitted hats. People are out early in the morning shoveling snow and scraping ice off their cars. The roads are slippery, many people are in the ditch. Watch out, for the black ice. Someone is always sniffling and blowing their nose. Winters are cold. When the snow melts and the cold passes, it’s spring. In the spring Wisconsin is pretty. Flowers begin to come up, the leaves come back to their branches. Friends fry food on Friday nights. People don’t wear their puffy jackets and mittens. They don’t wear their heavy boots and knitted hats. Everywhere you look you see red, green, pink, orange, bright colors. Not much white. You begin to see gardens full of vegetables and gardens full of flowers. Trees, bushes, and yards are filled with eggs as Easter gets closer. In the summer, the beaches are full of people and the snow is gone. Everyones yards are full of kids. The ground is dry and hot as the sun. The grills are fired up and used all over the neighborhood. Friends gather as they sip their frosty drinks. The pools open and the sprinklers come out of the shed. During the summer time, Wisconsin is busy. The dogs beg to be brought back inside. The plants need to be watered. The children water the yard while they play in their sprinklers. They stomp seeds into the ground. Then the weather begins to turn cold again and it’s fall. During the Fall, the leaves begin to fall and the world turns an orange color. The houses are decorated with pumpkins, ghosts, spiders, and other halloween related items. Everywhere you look you see piles of leaves. Sometimes the kids are jumping in them. Some landing on their backs, some landing on their butts, and some landing on their face. You don’t see many people out side anymore. The grills are put away, the pools begin to close and the puffy jackets and mittens start to come out of their bins, along with the heavy boots and knitted hats. It’s cold again and winter is coming back. This is life in Wisconsin.

Childhood Favorite game

Shoot. Darn. Oh come on. That is what you would hear on a saturday night at my house . During my childhood my favorite game was Chutes and Ladders. I would play it over and over again. I wasn’t that good when I first started playing the game, but after weeks and weeks of playing it I got the hang of it. I played Chutes and Ladders all the time. I would beg anyone I could to play with me. I was always the little girl with the brown hair and freckles spotted on her checks, like a Dalmatian. Chutes and Ladders was my favorite game because it was hard, but not to hard for me. The board had a lot of different ladders on it and a lot of different slides. You would flick a spinner and move however many spaces it told you too.The first person to get to the end of the board won. Chutes and Ladders is like a maze. It was also very frustrating. You would get to the end and then have to go down a slide. Sliding down a slide brought you farther from the end of the board. That is why I had hated the slides. This irritated me when I was little. It is amazing to think back to my favorite game. I think to my self, why did I like that game so much. Now, I think of it as a kids game and I rarely play it. I still have the game above my closet, but it just sits there and eats the dust that collects on it.