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| Photo courtesy of cardcow.com |
A Story From the Life of Mary W.
Ghostwritten by Delaney B.
Unexpected Turns
I never expected to become apart of the family.
I never expected to feel so at home.
Then again, things sometimes don’t go as expected.
Growing up in Bradford, Pennsylvania took some very unexpected turns.
I attended Bradford Senior High School from tenth grade to twelfth grade. My family had lived on the countryside, a place the buses never traveled.
Most of the kids I knew had found walking to school was the best option, but living so far from school made this a difficult task, so I found a way that turned into an incredible experience.
I lived with a family in town that was close enough to school that I could walk.
There were two families I stayed with, the first family I only stayed with for about a year. However, they didn’t feel like a perfect fit, so in hopes of finding another family that would be similar to my own, I moved out and found the Shaws.
The Shaws were very friendly and caring towards me when I stayed with them.
I spent my time with them housekeeping and taking care of their kids. The Shaws meant a lot to me in many ways. I would eat dinner at the table with them like a normal family. Unlike the first family I stayed with, which I didn’t eat with.
After I graduated from high school I ended up stayed with the Shaw family for a longer amount of time than intended. I stayed with them for three years total. Almost like a second home. I felt attached and that’s why I stayed. This family meant a lot and I didn’t want to leave just yet.
One night after I had graduated, I had nothing to do since I was not in high school anymore. However, I would occasionally go on dates with a guy named Tom, who was an old classmate from Bradford Senior High.
But this one night, Mr. Shaw was setting up a small square table in the living room.
He asked me, “Would you like to help me put together this puzzle?”.
I nodded my head.
He opened the box. Then, he carefully slipped the lid off making sure the pieces didn’t fall out onto the floor. The pieces made a small sound as they hit the flat table, like rain hitting a window pane. I picked up a piece. Some were upside down and some were right side up. We picked up almost every piece to look at the color and shape. I remember turning them in my hand thinking about all the things the Shaw family did for me.
I held one single piece in my hand and saw the smooth top that connected to the rest of the puzzle. I pick up piece after piece, finding the pieces that look similar in color. The edges are smooth but rough from the cardboard, but every piece is different. The shape and size, the color, the picture. Yet they all fit together in some way.
I looked up at Mr. Shaw and smiled. We put the puzzle together in peace with the occasional conversation.
Puzzle pieces fit together in a certain way to make a beautiful piece. Just like the way I fit into this family in such a normal way. I’m that one piece, fitting into one big puzzle.
