Week 7 Storytelling

All you need is Yourself

Not many people know what’s it like to grow up without a family.  And I don’t just mean having one parent instead of two, or growing up a single child.  Those people still have families.  Let me introduce myself, I’m Barbra Valentine you might have seen my name or heard of me, because I am one of the greatest flute players in the world.  Yes, I might sound a little conceded, but I take pride in MY accomplishments.  ‘My’ being the key word, I have worked my whole life to be where I am, and I did it without having a support group of a family.

            When I was born my mother put me up for adoption while I was still an infant.  I grew up in an orphan home not knowing what a family was.  In fact, I didn't even know that type of life existed until I was about six.  I remember that kids would come and go from the home, but it wasn’t until my friend, Andi got adopted that I realized what type of home I was in.  After Andi left I became very sad, and one of the leaders in the home explained to me that I should be happy for her, that she was going to live with a family.  It was that moment that I put all the pieces together. Once someone leaves they are joining a family, and when someone comes in they were leaving a family.  I was jealous of Andi and wished and prayed for a family to ‘pick me’.  A couple months after Andi left, my second friend Grant came into the home.  He was one year older than me and had brown hair like I did. Grant and I liked to play tricks on all the other kids in the home.  Grant was the funniest person I knew, and we spent two years together in the home before he got to go be with a family.  I was sad to see Grant go, but I was also happy for him.  After Grant left I started to feel very lonely.  I was eight by this time and one of the oldest kids in the home.  As an eight year old you could image that I was bored like 97% of the time.  One evening after doing schoolwork a man came into the home and left a donation of music instruments.  I knew what an instrument was but I had never played one.  I was immediately drawn to the flute that the man left.   I was obsessed with learning how to play this instrument.  I spent all of my free time from school learning how to play.  I was pretty good by the time I was ten.  Also when I was ten is when my friend Polly came to the home.  Polly was an unseal case, she was sixteen and got sent to the home because her mom and dad were bad people.  That’s all I knew about her parents, I never asked how her parents were bad, I just knew they were. Polly spent most of her time drawing while I would practice the flute.  I knew Polly liked being my friend because she was the only one who would sit through my awful flute playing.  I liked being Polly’s friend because she would tell me stories of what life was like living outside of the home.  A lot of times she made the home sound more appealing than living with a family.  One night Polly caught me crying about never getting picked to be adopted.   I remember asking her if it was because of the way I looked, or because I wasn’t smart enough.  Polly looked at me that night and told me that there was nothing wrong with me.  She explained that this world is much bigger than her and I and this silly home.  Polly changed my life by telling me that life is going to move on, but what really changed my life was when she told me that I was one of the most talented flute players she had ever heard.  After that I focused almost every minute of the day playing the flute. Polly would teach me how to do my hair, and I would play in front of all the kids in the home like I was in my own concert.  When Polly turned 18 she had to leave the home, I was sad to see her go, but she had big plans and I was happy for her to start those plans.  I spent the next six years in the home practicing and planning my life as a flutist.  When I turned 18 I finally got to leave the home and I had saved enough money from job that I was able to buy the tiniest apartment, but it was perfect for just my flute and me.  I spent many days in the park playing my flute gathering tips. I worked and worked until I had enough money to get flute lessons. Eventually I tried out for orchestras and worked my way up to where I am today.  The point of me telling you all of this is, is to show you all you are what you make yourself.  I learned more in that orphan home than most people get in a lifetime.  Andi taught me how to be happy for people when good things happen. Grant taught me what it’s like to let lose and have fun. Polly taught me to never stop doing what I loved. These are just a few of the influences I had in the orphan home and I would never trade what I learned. Not even for a family.

(Source Google)

Authors Note: This story came from the character of Benten from “The Romance of Old Japan.”  This story doesn't follow the lines of Benten’s story.  The only thing that lines up with my story and Benten’s is the flute.  Brenda and Benten both played the flute. 

Bibliography: The Romance of Old Japan, episode The Labors of Yamato- The Grotto of Love, by E. W. Champney and F. Champney (1917).