I have mentioned that I have twenty-nine brothers and sisters,but in reality I have thirty.Here is a picture of my one and only biological sister.Well, we did have different fathers but she is still my biological sister, because we had the same mother.My sister's name is Yulia and she is living in Ukraine right now.Yulia is in her early twenties and is getting married this upcoming September.The reason that I know some things about her is because last year she created a Facebook account and friended my mom on it.Since I don't have my own account I was able to write to her through my mom's page,it was very amazing.I think Facebook is a very great website because you are actually able to comunicate with people around the world,not just in the United States.When she writes to me her messages come in Russian and that's when I think,thank you God that I still speak Russian.I admit that it is not as natural as it was when I was first adopted but it's still in me.If my parents didn't adopt Leah,Joseph,Cate,Olivia,Jonas,Tia,Rachel and Caleb I would have completely forgotten the Russian language by now, but since all of them speak it, it's still alive in our family.Thinking back in time I don't remember much about my childhood with Yulia.I have always known I had a sister but we didn't grow up together.I grew up in the orphanage and she grew up with her grandmother,who is the mom of her father.Many times I wished that things were different but if they were I wouldn't be living the life I am living today.If things were different I would not be a part of my family that God has blessed me with.Most likely I would not have become a Christian.I wouldn't go back and change a thing about what happened in my life.When I was in third grade at the orphanage I saw Yulia for the first time.Along with my aunt and uncle she searched for me and found me.She was fourteen at that time!I remember how happy I was to be able to have such an amazing thing happen in my life.I didn't think I would only have her for a short amount of time because God had a different plan.The plan was my adoption! Few summers I spent time with my uncle,aunt and Yulia in the city where I was born.The summer after I graduated from fifth grade was the last summer I spent with my Ukranian relatives.I admit it was a great time,I spent alot of time with my sister that summer and she told me some hard things from our childhood. I remember crying to my aunt Ira the night before I had to go back to the orphanage.I was telling her that I wanted to stay and that I didn't like being at the orphanage.I just turned eleven years old and had no idea that I wouldn't have to live at the orphanage much longer.In October my new mommy and daddy came to adopt me,they also came to adopt Luke whose orphanage was not far from mine.They saw my picture and wanted to adopt me.I was so very happy but also a little sad about leaving Yulia behind.I knew in my heart that getting adopted was my dream and it was best for my life.I wanted a mother and a father,I wanted to experience what it feels like to have a family.Experience I got,but I don't regret it because I love my family.I might miss my sister at times but I would never want to change what is God's will.He wrote this story of my life and when it's told all the glory is His.Someday if I can I will try to go to Ukraine along with some of those that were adopted from Ukraine.We all have agreed that it is something we would like to do.We would visit the places that we spent parts of our lives at and I want to see Yulia someday again.No matter what she will always be my sister!
