It was 3:35 pm on a clear sunny day in Sydney, Australia in September 2003. My mom and dad were talking about Brooke, my sister that was going to be born someday this week. I left to my bedroom and just sat and read. Suddenly the sky got as gray as my grandmothers hair and started to rain so hard the water got inside my room. I closed my window and slept for a while. After three hours I woke up from the loud screams from my mother. My dad called me and we left to the hospital. My mom was giving birth today!

We were on the way to the hospital and my mom's belly hurt as bad as getting hit with a rock. A blonde nurse attended us and took my mom to the emergency room. My father went along and I waited to see my sister. I was sitting there in an old big brown couch in the waiting room when suddenly I heard my sister crying! My whole body had goose bumps and I just felt a big smile on my face. My father came out and hugged me. He told me her name was Brooke and that she looked just like my mother.

While they were cleaning up Brooke and taking care of my mother, we heard the nurses talking about the weather. We saw the TV and there was an alert of a possible tornado. It was 7:10 pm and we got scared. Many people ran out of the hospital to there cars. The nurse told my father that my mom had a problem in her belly and she couldn't get out of the hospital until the next day if she was better. It was still raining and we heard monstrous thunders. My dad was so worried he started sweating and his eyes were red, full of teardrops. I asked him if everything was gong to be OK but he didn't answer, so I think his answer was no. I got nervous and felt butterflies in my stomach. The hospital was very small and far from town.

After 1 hour, at 8 pm, Silvia, the nurse, called us to go see my mother and she would bring Brooke in 10 minutes. When Silvia came in with Brooke in a small portable cradle we got very excited and we saw Brooke wrapped in a pink quilt with duck prints in it and her cheeks were so pink and soft just like cotton candy. She smelled like baby powder and she had her eyes closed. Her skin was soft and she had a little bit of brown hair. Dad grabbed her and we took many pictures with Brooke and mom.


After being about 1 and a half hour with Brooke, Silvia entered reporting that a tornado was coming to Sydney and it was coming to the west side were the hospital was located! We didn´t know what to do with Brooke so we took her along and left mom there because she couldn´t get up from the problem she had! We said good-bye to my mom and hugged her and kissed her and we were all crying.

We got into the car and everything was closed in Sydney! Dad and I didn´t know how we were going to feed Brooke. While there was a big mess from the people in the cars, we saw the tornado! It was frightening! We stopped the car and I just saw my dad writing in a paper. He wrote, “PLEASE TAKE CARE OF THIS CHILD. HER NAME IS BROOKE.” He placed the note inside Brooke´s quilt. I asked him what we were going to do and he left Brooke inside the car and told me to follow him. I was very angry with him, even though I know he always right. We got under a small cave under a mountain and I told him if we were going to leave Brooke there and he said that someone would find her and take a better care for her.


We didn´t even noticed when we slept and the next day I woke up at 6 am, and got my dad up so we could go see if Brooke was still there, but she wasn´t. The car was not damaged and the car´s door was opened so we both thought someone took Brooke. We also ran to the hospital to look for mom but the only thing we could see was broken bricks in the floor. The hospital was destroyed and everyone who was inside died, including mom.


After 13 years of living without my mom and living knowing nothing about Brooke I remembered that horrifying day and took a look at the pictures. I went to school very depressed and when I got back home dad wasn´t there so I called him and he had a painful voice. I asked him where he was and if he was OK and he said that he crashed with a car and he was waiting for some people to donate him blood. I went to the hospital with my bicycle and we were 6 hours waiting when suddenly 4 girls entered the room. They were the ones passing blood to my father. 3 of the girls were blonde with strait her and the 4th one was skinny, tall and light browned hair. The doctor said it was enough blood for what he needed. When it was the 4th girl´s turn the doctor made a really weird face and said something about her blood and my dad´s blood was wrong. He took some tests and results were she was Brooke! She came in the room and hugged my dad and I! I saw her lunar on her neck and I knew she was Brooke! We were all joyfully happy and went back home.


Brooke told us she lived in an Orphanage and that she was really upset when they told her they found her in a car with a note when the tornado happened. Dad told her he was really sorry but that he knew someone would find her and take care for her. Brooke hugged my dad and told him she loved him. After talking for several hours she asked nervously if mom died that day too and I told her yes. The three of us had sad faces and Brooke asked how she died. My dad explained her what happened on that day and she turned pale. Brooke was really sad but happy to be with us.


We went to the Orphan and my dad signed some papers and Brooke got all her clothes and stuff. When we got home we showed Brooke her baby pictures and she didn´t stop looking at them. She was surprised. She told us something really important for her, she said she had always dreamed and wished to be with her family together like right now.


After 4 months, I got to know her so much and became good “friends”. She is a very sweet, kind, and educated girl. She is very careful and organized with her things. Brooke is vegetarian and loves to eat celery. She likes to play with her hair and every day she uses a different hairstyle, but she just washes it 1 time a week so it doesn´t smell really good. Dad and I are really proud of having her in the family and we will always remember mom.