”We moved here in January from Colorado. I work at Panini Pete’s and Sunset Pointe. My grandparents lived in Mobile and my mom moved to Colorado for a job as a software engineer. She met my dad there. Colorado is a better place to visit than live for me. It got kind of depressing because sometimes the solitude and quiet were too much. I like being close to the beach where the ocean is moving and you can smell it.  Moving cross country was hard because of getting rid of everything and starting over.

I am into fate and everything happens for a reason. I believe one little thing you do today can affect what happens in the future. Think of all of the things in the past that lined up for you to be here right now.

I like to come out here every morning and visit GiGi It is happiness here. I draw GiGi and read to her. We are on chapter seven of Alice in Wonderland. My mom and I started coming to the duck pond and established a friendship with Garfield, GiGi’s boyfriend, and were heartbroken when he disappeared. After that, we noticed GiGi wasn’t eating and was becoming antisocial. Someone said GiGi was like a woman waiting for her husband to return home from war. I am trying to be a friend to her. I heard she was bitten by a fox a year ago and that hurt her foot. She recognizes me now and swims up when I arrive.

I like to pen pal. I have pen pals from Nebraska, Florida, Maine, Germany, France, China, and Hong Kong. It is fun to get outside of your bubble and get to know people from other cultures and backgrounds. One of my pen pals writes the letters in Korean on one side and the translation on the other. Just think how many miles those letters come to get to my post office box.

Have courage and be kind. I love that quote from Cinderalla. I like helping people and want to be a physical therapy assistant or work with an animal rehabilitation center. I also want to be in the peace corps.”