In 2006 I came to Amarica with my sister, Annie. I spent time in my familt in home when we have Halloween and I was a princess we did give to kids a candies. And we have amazing day!!! [Emily, Annie and I arrived home (bringing them home for the first time, from Russia) on Halloween in 2006.] And also we trick out treat with some kids and first time I went ot Amarica when we have holidays for Halloween and my family spent time with me I thought never have Halloween before like Amarica in Russia. They not have holidays in Russia like Halloween [Russia celebrates plenty of holidays but not Halloween.] Sometimes in Amarica they have different holidays spent time with my family. I like to go to trick or treat. Sometimes the kids knock the door and ask for candies like they saying trick or treat to neighbors.

My first time I learn about trick or treating I passed out candy to the kids when they came to the door. I wearing dress like a princess. People in Russia, they don’t dress up, in Amarica they wear costumes like princess and witches and ghost, clowns. In Russia not have Halloween parties. But in Amarica they have parties. At Halloween parties people dress up, eat cookies. In Russia they not good there because is different here than Russia. We have taked pictures here about me and my sisters always. [One of the hardest things for our children that we adopted form Russia is to have virtually no photographic history of their lives before we came into them. They all cherish the photographs. Recoding history with photos has always been quite important to our family.] And we have pumpkin in Amarica and we not have in Russia about pumpkins. And we did work on pumpkins and my mom from Amarica she make good pumpkin pie. But I really don’t like it, pumpkin pie. [I find it so interesting that everything in “Amarica” is good, even if she doesn’t like it and everything in Russia is bad, even if she does like it. I think she has a hard time separating out events and items from “life.” No one would have liked having the life that Emily had in Russia, though plenty of people in Russia have good lives. For Emily, though, the only comparison she thinks about is HER life in Russia compared to HER life in the United States.]

I remember that we cook pumpkin seeds and we watch movies like Hocus Pocus and we have so much fun to spend time with my family and also we play games. Amarica different than Russia. [I have said so many times that kids in Russian orphanages do not usually miss Russian culture because they don’t live Russian culture. They live a completely different culture that exists only in the orphanages.] My Amarican parents don’t dress up at all.

I first time when I went on a plane I got scared of plane but I never got sick. I got scared, I thought I am going to fall.

And I saw first time my sisters and brothers. I meet first time, and they give me a big hugs a lot.

In the Amarica little bit cold but in Russia it’s very cold on October. I like Amarican food but I really don’t as much like Russian food. [Again, food that is typically “Russian,” Emily really does like. I think it would be more correct to say that Emily likes the food she gets here better than the food she got in the orphanage. Children in orphanages simply do not experience the “culture” of their home country.] I do like Halloween because I like be with my family.

And me and my sister, Annie got sumboll necklace [symbolic necklace]. Three. A part for mom, one for Annie and one for me. [We had a silver dollar from 2006 cut into three pieces and made into three necklaces. As Amy and I left to go home after the first official visit with Annie and Emily, we gave them each a necklace with their own part of the silver dollar. Amy kept the necklace with the third piece of the silver dollar. We showed the girls how the pieces fit together and were going to be apart, but that they would come back together again, when we came back to finalize the adoption.]

Halloween is always amazing. After Halloween I went to hard time. My family talk to me and supported me through it.

I like to celebrate with my family with holidays and always about food or gifts. I like to spend time with my family.

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About the Author

Emily Simmons was adopted from Russia at the age of fifteen, in 2006. At that time she joined three younger biological sisters and four new brothers in her new family. Emily has struggled with several forms of mental illness and she is intellectually challenged. She has been in several institution type settings and now lives in a group home. She is still very involved with her parents and the rest of her family. Emily often says: “Family, most important thing!”