daddy long legs

Chapter 8

Uncle, guess what?The English teacher praised me for the ingenuity of my last composition.She really said so!That's what she said.Considering all the training I've had in 18 years, it seems unlikely, doesn't it?The purpose of the John Gorier Orphanage is to turn 97 little orphans into 97 people who look and behave the same.

My unusual artistic talent may have been developed when I was a child drawing Mrs. Lippy on the door panel.

I gossip about my childhood home, I hope you will not be angry.But you're in control, you know, and you can stop funding at any time if I get offended.It's rude to say that, but you can't expect more education from me, and an orphanage isn't a training school for ladies after all.

Uncle, you know that the most difficult thing in college is not homework, but play.Most of the time, I had no idea what the girls were talking about, their jokes seemed to be about their past.This past where everyone has a share has nothing to do with me. I am like a foreigner in their world, and I can't understand what they say.I was depressed, soaked in depression for the rest of my life.There were gangs of girls in high school, and they gave me the cold shoulder.I'm different and weird, and everyone seems to know that.I feel like "John Golier Orphanage" written all over my face.Then some well-wishers would come and comfort me.I hate everyone - especially the kind people.

No one here knows that I was raised in an orphanage.I told Sallie Macbeth that my parents were dead, and that a kind old gentleman sent me to college—and so far it has been true.I don't want you to think I'm stupid, but I really want to be like the other girls, but the horrible shadow of the orphanage hung over my childhood and separated me from everyone else.If I could just forget about it and keep it out of my head, I think I could be just as cute as any other girl.I don't see myself as any different from them.Do you say so?
Anyway, Sally Macbeth likes me!
Your Forever Judy Albert (formerly Jerusa)
Friday

I re-read the letter just now, and the tone seems low.But, as you might not imagine, on Monday morning I had a special essay due, a geometry review, and a cold that kept me sneezing.

saturday morning

I forgot to post the letter yesterday, and I will complain again today.A bishop came to school this morning. Guess what he said?
"The best promise the Bible gives us is 'Always have the poor with you,' and they can keep us always compassionate."

You see, the poor are turned into useful livestock, and if I hadn't become a man of culture, I should have run to him after the service to tell him what I thought.

Sunday

(End of this chapter)