My name is Declan. I am  7.  I lived in an orphanage in Ukraine with my sister Niamh. My brother Conor was at a different orphanage. When they brought me to the orphanage I was 2 years old, my brother and sister didn’t know who I was.  I had only been a baby when they had seen me the last time.  My sister and brother had been in two orphanages already, I joined in the second one.

I did not like the orphanage very much. The bigger boys are mean to the little boys. I wanted a mom and a dad. I didn’t know if I would ever get a mom and a dad but I hoped I would. I had a friend in the orphanage. He was nice to me and was kind. I miss him. I want him to get a family too.

My mom and dad are adopting more kids and I am happy about that.  I want other kids to have what I have and be happy.

I love cuddling on the sofa with my mom and dad when we watch TV or read a book. They make me feel safe. I am writing a book at school called ‘A Homecoming“. Its about my time in the orphanage and what it is like to get a family.  It is not finished yet but I am enjoying telling my story.  My mom took a picture of it with her phone when we went to see my classroom and my teacher one day.

Now I am not hungry and I have clothes to wear that are mine. When I left the second orphanage I was not allowed to take the car set that my mom and dad gave me for Christmas. The workers told me that I was getting a new mom and dad and they would buy me plenty of toys so I could leave it there for the other children to play with. That was okay but I really liked it too.  Now my favorite toys are my hockey cards, my Lego and my cars.

We went fishing to Thompson in the summer with my parents and I caught my first fish! My mom cooked it for me for supper. It was good.

In Declan’s own words, ‘I miss my best friend at the orphanage.’ He was the boy who stood up beside me when others in the orphanage were being mean to me’. ‘He was nice to me’. ‘I miss him lots’.  He was not just nice to me but he was nice to everyone.

I am very glad that my mom and dad are adopting more children. Then I can maybe have my friend here. I hope they get him but my mom and dad say that you can’t pick out children before you go to Ukraine so I am praying that he will be part of our family too.

PS. Declan dictated this post to us!  As he reread the post out loud to me tonight, he began to cry and said, “I can’t read it anymore it makes me too sad that my friend does not have a family.”  He wanted in the worst way for me to share with our readers the name of his friend but to protect his identity we are unable.