My autobiography

Chapter 1: How it all started Ok! How do I start the story of my life? Hmm. Oh, I just got an idea! It was a cold, stormy winter morning on January 18, 2003 at about 2 a.m., and my mom Katja and my dad Vincent were in the hospital. That morning was a very special event in my familys life. Guess why? Well, because I was born. My name is Emma Victoria Parisot. It was supposed to be Victoria, honoring my great-grandmothers name, but my parents choose Emma instead because you can pronounce it in almost any language. Instead they choose Victoria to be my middle name. Now, lets backtrack a little to the night that I was born. There was a full moon shining. It illuminated all of New York City. Even if the city was covered from head to toe with snow, it still looked like a lively, happy city. It probably looked like a magical snowy wonderland. Did I forget to mention that I was born in New York City? I love it there. I wouldnt rather live anywhere else than New York City. My dad says he was the happiest man alive when I was born. I hope he still thinks that when I dont clean up my room. I am a first generation New Yorker. (That might not make sense right now, but it will in a second). My dad is French, like the rest of his side of the family. I know that I said my dad is from France, but he was actually born in New Jersey. His dad (my grandfather) Georges, had to work in New Jersey for a few years, but then they went back to live in Paris. Therefore, my dad only lived in New Jersey for one or two years, and then he lived all his childhood years, teenage years and a few adult years in France. My mom is from Germany. She lived there all her life until she met my dad. When they got married, they moved to New York City, where I was born. My moms family still lives in Germany though. Now I will tell you what I meant when I said I was a first generation New Yorker. I am the 1st person ever from my family to be born in New York City. Isnt that cool? Well, I think it is!

In July 2003 I traveled for the first time. I didnt just travel somewhere. My mom, dad and I traveled to Europe. I finally got to go where my whole entire family is from! It was an exciting and tiring trip. The flight was about eight hours long. I bet I cried for half of the flight, (four hours). Just kidding, but I know that I did cry, but I dont know for how long. We went to Paris, France, first to visit my dads family. While we were there, my first baby tooth grew in! I cant remember the pain that I went through, but my jaws must have been aching tremendously. I must have been screaming at the top of my lungs when my tooth grew in. Now I am ten years old and my back molars are growing in. It hurts a lot, even though I am older now, so I cant even imagine what I went through that day in Paris!

Chapter 2: My first Halloween BOO! Halloween has come! Every single year, Halloween is very much anticipated by everyone! Everything, I repeat, EVERYTHING, is decorated for Halloween in New York. In every store, building or street you can find something decorated for Halloween. So, as you can see, my first Halloween was a very special event! I was dressed up in one of the scariest costume one can ever dream of A PUMPKIN! Ok! Maybe I was exaggerating a little when I said I had a scary costume. But just a little bit! I had this cute chubby, little costume. I also had this tiny little leaf hat. The pictures show that I looked adorable in the costume; but I think I had thought something else. I had not liked the hat one little bit. According to my mom I kept shaking and pulling it off, so that she finally gave up on trying to make me wear it.

Chapter 3: Big, exciting events happen, when you are with your best friend Around December, still in 2003, I was at my friends house with my family. No one knew that something big was going to happen. Not even me! All the parents were talking while I was crawling around and my friend Amilia was walking around. You might think Amilia is older
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than I am, but she is actually younger, but not by much. Only two months. Amilia just learned how to walk a few days before. When I saw her walking, I probably also wanted to walk, because then it happened. Step, by step, by step. I was walking! I was still very wobbly so I fell down. My mom turned around from the sound. I got back up and started walking again. My mom saw me. I became the spotlight of the show. All cameras were pointed at me. I must have thought I was the most special person on this whole entire planet. Happy New Year! It was now that point of the year. I celebrated it with my longest friend Amilia. I know Amilia since she was born, that means I know her since I was two months old. She is a great and awesome friend. Because of her I have done things that I wouldnt have dared to do on my own. I dont know how my life would be, if I didnt know her. Therefor my first New Year was extra-special because I was with her to celebrate it. Chapter 4: My first sentence that I said is How embarrassing is that! My first sentence was: Shake my booty! Ok, I didnt just learn how to say that from anyone. I learned it from my dad. I dont want to blame it all on one person, but it is true. My dad kept saying to me Shake my booty for no apparent reason. So, of course I copied him and said it. I am not going to say it again, because it is too humiliating, even though for some people amusing! My mom and dad are still debating if it was my first sentence or if it was one of them. It doesnt matter either way. All that matters is that I said: Shake my booty. I was around two years old when I said it while walking down some stairs outside of our house along the Hudson River. I am not proud to say that I said what I said, but its only the truth.

Chapter 5: In one and a half years, so many things can happen There are too many boxes! In April 2006 was the first time that I moved! It wasnt a move to a different country or even a move to a different city. We just moved to a bigger apartment in the same neighborhood. We needed to move because my mom was pregnant with my sister. Our apartment was too small for four people to live in, so we moved into an apartment where a family of four could live comfortably. When we first moved in, the house was a mess. No, I am not kidding; it looked like a pigsty. Everything was out of place, so no one could really walk around without tripping and falling. There was also still a lot of construction to make the apartment exactly like we wanted it. I think that at the end our apartment looked pretty good and nice, because we own it now for seven years. What sports do you love? Well, while I am writing right now, I am ten years old and my favorite sports are swimming, skiing and biking. Actually, my dad likes the same sports. I started to learn all three of these sports in 2007. The story I am going to tell you now is how I learned all these three sports. It will start with how I learned to swim: My dad had always had a passion for swimming. When he was in high school and college, he was on many different swim teams. So when I was born, it was obvious that I was going to learn how to swim. We didnt know if I was going to love swimming or if I was going to decpise it; but I think my thoughts about swimming were correct because they have brought me a long way. When I was younger I just loved to go swimming with my dad. I would splash around the pool in my floaties and think that there is no other place I would rather be than in the pool. But the day I had my first swim lesson with a company called Physique Swimming, my thoughts changed.

I knew I was going to have my first swim lesson that day. It wasnt a surprise for me, I knew everything that was going to happen that day by heart. My grandparents, who came from Germany to visit us in New York, brought me to the swim lesson that day. Everything was fine until I saw the swim teacher. He was a cheerful, kind looking man, so I dont know what got into me. I started crying and told my grandparents I didnt want to go. I didnt listen to anything they said to try to persuade me. At the end I got dragged into the pool, against my will. I should have called my lawyer. I am just kidding! After all, because of that one lesson, I started to love to swim and now I am on the swim team. I love this sport and if I dont swim, a big part of me is missing! Almost the exact same thing happened for skiing with me. I probably didnt want to learn either of these sports, but at the end I did. My dad has helped me with all these sports. The first time I went skiing was in Park City, Utah. We rented a small apartment there for a week. It was a small cozy place. It felt like I was at home. When I was in the house, it was so welcoming. Now lets stop talking about the house, lets talk about skiing. The first few days we were there my dad would teach me the basic things about skiing. We would start with my dad skiing slowly in front of me and I would ski behind him, holding on to his pole. He would then pull me to the chair lift. The first time I went on the chair lift it was difficult for me to get on, so my dad had to quickly lift me and get himself on with me in his arms. We went up and I felt like I was at the top of the world. When we were at the top, I saw the slope that lay ahead of me. It was the easiest slope in the whole entire history of slopes. But imagine yourself as a little child, who was doing the first ski slope of her life. As you can see, I was terrified. But my dad persuaded me to go. At first I was stubborn, and didnt even move an inch. But bit by bit, I went down, clinging on to my dads arm for dear life. Surprisingly we made it down safely except for a few tumbles and stumbles. During the next few days, I went for the first time to ski school. There, I met some new friends and had a great time, even if I did miss my parents sometimes.

During the same year, I learned how to bike. The story of how I learned to bike is boring, so I will just skip over it. All three of these sports that I learned when I was young, are my favorite sports these days. And by the way, I think I am pretty good at them too!

Chapter 6: My little sister is finally born! And the first IPhone came out! It was the early morning of June 21st, 2007. I woke up and stretched my arms and legs. I got out of bed and went to my moms and dads room to wake them up. I couldnt find them anywhere in their room or anywhere else in our apartment. I searched everywhere, but couldnt find them. I finally started to cry. Had they abandoned me, did they not like me? I tried calling their names one last time. The apartment was soundless, except for my tears running down my face. Then, suddenly, I heard a voice and footsteps. They werent my moms or my dads. Who was it then? I was trembling with fear. Finally I could see something. It was the mom of my friend Estella! How did she get here? There were so many questions bubbling inside me. I asked her all of them. She told me she was here because my mom and dad were at the hospital. The baby, my sister, was going to be born. After she explained every single detail to me, I was excited. I wanted to see my baby sister. She told me though, that I was going to go to her house in the morning, and then she would bring my friend Estella and me to our Nursery School. She also explained, that my dad would come back in the evening to get me. I couldnt think straight that whole day at the Nursery. The day went by slowly until my dad came back home from the hospital. When I saw him, I gave him a big hug. He told me all about my new little sister. My dad told me that her name was Camille. The next day I was going to see her with my own two eyes. But that wasnt early enough for me, so I started arguing. Sadly, I lost the argument and had to wait for the next day. My dad and I went to the hospital. My mom was there, eating breakfast. I quickly and quietly went up to her and gave her a small, gentle hug. We talked a lot about the day before, when I got frightened because they were not home. She told me that they put
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the pictures up on my door as it was planned. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about the plan. The plan was that my mom and dad would put up pictures of me when I was a baby on my door. If I would wake up one morning and see the pictures on my door, it would mean that they were at the hospital. Apparently, I forgot to check. Well, never mind. We kept on talking for a while and then the baby came in the room, in a kind of a container, pushed by a nurse. My dad brought me over to my sister. She was such a small, fragile thing. The nurse took Camille over to my mom. Together we held her in our arms. Over the next few days my mom came home with my sister. There was a new member of the Parisot family. Not only that, but the first iPhone came out. So not only was it a special week because my sister was born, in addition Apple had made their first iPhone.

Chapter 7: First day of school! Is school supposed to be horrible or supreme? Well, I was in the middle. In Pre-K you dont really do much work, most of the time you play, thats the good part. The bad part is, that its SCHOOL! The first day that I went to school was pretty AWESOME! It was in September 2007. My grandparents from Germany were there that day. Of course my mom, dad and Camille were there too. We were standing in front of the school. It was called Claremont Prep. I told myself: Be brave, stay strong. I walked straight in. The school was really nice. There was a big gymnasium, a pool and a playground on the roof. We saw so many cool things, including my classroom. I had a really big and awesome room. There were so many fun things. I knew I would love school that year. My teachers were the best of all though. Their names were Ms. Johnson and Ms. Scott. When we first went into the classroom, Ms. Johnson told me to make a nametag for my desk. I sat down quietly on a chair and started decorating my nametag. I met some really nice kids in my classroom, who became to be life long friends.

Later that day, I also got my Schultte, as people in Germany call it. Its a cone shaped bag filled with chocolate and little presents. You get it the first day you start school. It is a tradition in Germany. I had such a great day that I couldnt wait to go back to school the next day!

Chapter 8: Skiing with Curious George and the Super Bowl It was in 2008, the weekend of the Super Bowl. My dad and I were packing up our things to go skiing in a ski resort, called Camleback Mountain, for the weekend. We were about to leave when I told him, I wanted to bring Curious George, a stuffed animal, that each child in our class got to bring home for one weekend. At first my dad told me that I couldnt bring it, because I could lose it. I begged him and did everything trying to convince him, and finally he agreed. I was so excited. We had another passenger on the Choo Choo Train to Cameback Mountain. During our stay at Camelback, we did many cool things. I took Curious George everywhere. He came with me on the chair lift, to the restaurant and on the slopes. We skied everywhere together. By now, I was really good at skiing for my age. The good thing is, that I also love to ski. Our family goes to Park City, Utah, every year. But my dad and I always try to ski a little more during the year by going to Camelback. Not only was that weekend fun because I got to ski with Curious Georges; it was also the weekend of the Super Bowl. The best part is, that the Giants won. I will always remember that vacation.

Chapter 9: First time in Philadelphia and the Tooth Fairy had to pay me a visit! In September 2009, my whole family went to Philadelphia, for the first time. We got to do and see a lot of things. One thing we visited was the Liberty Bell. It is a bell that was used to proclaim liberty after the revolution. Sadly, it cracked the first time it was used and had to put on display. When I got to see it for the first time, I couldnt keep my mind off of how big it was.
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We also went on a carriage ride that took us all over the city. We saw many famous sites, like the house of Betsy Ross. She is the woman who made the first flag for the United States of America. The most fun part of the carriage ride was at the end though. The driver let me give the horse a piece of apple. It was so cute. The day went by and we did many other interesting things. At the end of the day we went back to the hotel. Before I went to bed that night, I just wiggled my wiggly tooth a little. It was my first wiggly tooth. And then I heard a crack. My tooth was about to fall out. I called my dad over. He told me that he would need to pull the tooth out, otherwise I could choke on it in my sleep. Without me even noticing, he just yanked it out. I put the tooth under my pillow and wrote a letter to the Tooth Fairy, asking, if I could keep my tooth and still get a present. And thats exactly what happened.

Chapter 10: Does every good thing have to come with a bad one? A lot of people have crooked teeth, or uneven teeth, and they need to get some treatment to make them even. Well, I was one of those people. I had crooked teeth, which meant that I had to do something to fix it. I got a pallet expander. It was around June 2010. School had just finished, and I had started vacation. I was at the dentist getting my pallet expander installed. Everything went well as planned. The dentist put it in and then made it super tight so it wouldnt fall out. The only annoying part of it was that it was a little bit difficult to talk with it at first. I thought that was the only worry because after the dentist I didnt eat anything until dinner. That same day I went to my first concert. My mom, dad and I went to see James Taylor and Carol King. My sister stayed home with our babysitter. We all thought that it was no problem to go to a concert on the same day I got my pallet expander. Anyway, it wasnt annoying me. But when we went to a restaurant before the concert, I realized that it wasnt just annoying, it was irritating. I had ordered a burger,
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which I could hardly eat because of my pallet expander. All the food kept on getting stuck in it. It was really difficult to try to get them out. I finished the burger, but it was not easy. The concert was amazing! It was so awesome. I loved it. My favorite songs were Locomotion by Carol King as well as Sweet Baby James and How sweet it is to be loved by you by James Taylor. I got some popcorn during the intermission, which was a mistake, because it got stuck very firmly in the pallet expander. I couldnt wait for the next year, when I would be able to take the pallet expander out.

Chapter 11: My best friend moves to California It was at the end of 2nd Grade, the end of June in 2011. One of my best friends, Dorothea, moved back to Los Angeles, California. When she was young, she had lived there already. She had moved to New York because of her dads work. Her family always knew that at some point, they were going to move back, but I wasnt prepared when I heard she was moving at the end of the year. I felt a sadness that I had never felt before. Dorothea was always by my side, stood up for me and made me laugh. She was a perfect best friend. Therefore, when she told me that she was moving, I knew I had to do something special with her before she left. We had the best sleep over ever. We did so many fun things. We played Apples to Apples and the whole entire game we were laughing our heads off. I had some of the most fun I have ever had. So when morning came and she had to go, I couldnt help but cry. I knew we would still be friends, even if we wouldnt see each other so often anymore. But I also knew it wouldnt be the same as her living here.

Chapter 12: My First Communion I am different from a lot of people. It is not different in a good or bad way. I just did something differently. When I was born, I wasnt baptized right away. Actually I wasnt baptized until 2012, when I was 9 years old. My dad is Catholic and
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my mom is Protestant. Because they both have a different religion, they decided to let me chose when I was older. In September 2011 I started to take Catholic Religion classes to find out what it means to be Catholic. After a while, I realized that I believe in the Catholic Religion. Soon after I got baptized. I kept going to the religious classes with a lot of my friends. In May 2012 we would have to go to our First Communion. So I did! A First Communion is when you receive the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist (the bread) for the first time. When you get to eat the Eucharist it shows, that you believe and take part in the Catholic Religion. I had my First Communion at Saint Peters Church in New York City. My grandparents from Germany and some of my friends came. When we went up to the priest to receive the Eucharist, it was a bit crazy. A lot of parents were standing really close to the altar to take pictures of their child, so we had to push our way through to go back to our seat. After church we went to my favorite restaurant, Bridge Caf, to celebrate. My dad gave me a blue Bible in leather as a present. The day was perfect. I could show everyone that I believed.

Chapter 13: What? I have to get glasses! In July 2012, the truth was revealed. I had to wear nerdy, ugly, hideous glasses. Well, thats what I thought when I was first told! At school that year, I had sometimes problems seeing things on the board. At first, I didnt want to tell my mom and dad because I thought I would have to get glasses straight away. I thought glasses were the worst. But at the end my mom figured out herself, and I was forced to tell the truth. School had finished and we were going to Germany for the summer. My mom decided to bring me to her eye doctor. The entire family on my moms side has glasses, so it was no wonder that I was going to have them too. We went to the eye doctor and it became official. I needed glasses. The doctor told me, that I should have told my mother right away when I started to have trouble seeing things clearly. He said that my

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eyesight had become worse in the time I had waited to tell her. I was the unhappiest girl in the world that day. Throughout the next few days, we went on a search to find the perfect glasses and we found them. They werent bad at all. In fact, I thought they were pretty neat. Over time, I got used to them and they arent as bad as they seem.

Chapter 14: My Grandpa George It had all started during Christmas 2012. My grandfather from my fathers side had started to act a little strange. My grandmother knew something was wrong. She brought him to a doctor. At first they said nothing was wrong, but after a few more check-ups in the hospital, the doctors found out he had a brain tumor. They tried medications and some other treatments to try to make him better, but nothing seemed to help. The doctors feared the worst was going to happen to him, and it did. Throughout the weeks and months of 2013 the brain tumor grew. My dad was constantly flying to Paris to see his dad. My grandfathers condition worsened; he became paralyzed on one side of his body and it became difficult for him to speak. Soon after he could hardly say yes or no. For Spring Break, my family and I went over to Paris to see my grandfather. Day after day, I stayed by his side, to at least see him being awake for a short moment. He mostly slept all day, so I wanted to be with him on the rare moments he was awake. The first few times he couldnt even realize it was me. But then, one day, he did. He had just woken up and my dad started telling him that I was here in the hospital. He told him that I would take his hand. I did and my grandfather squeezed it. My dad said that it meant that he knew I was there. He could sense it. Then my grandfather took my hand and put it on his heart. That meant that he would love me forever, my dad told me. I knew that this was the last time I got to see him. In May 2013 my grandfather passed away. My dad made it to the hospital right before he died. The doctors had called my dad in New York and told him that his dad was about to die, so my dad jumped on the plane and took a flight to Paris. He got there right on time.

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Two days after, my mom, my sister and I flew to Paris. We went to the funeral and stayed with my grandmother for a few days. But we had to go back to New York eventually, because I had to go back to school. I really miss my grandfather a lot. And I am also very sad because I wish I had spent more time with him. He was a lot like me. He loved to read and he loved doing math.

Chapter 15: We are moving to Dubai! It was the last day of school. The whole entire school was in the auditorium for the closing ceremony. Everything was great, except for one thing: I was moving. At the end of May my dad had told me. I couldnt believe my ears when he said it. I loved everything in New York that I had and didnt want to leave it. What about my friends I had in New York? And what about the perfect apartment that we have? And most of all, what about my beloved school and teachers? I was still at the same school where I had started Pre-K. Only the name had changed from Claremont Prep to Lman Manhattan. My dad told me that we were going to move back to NY after two or three years. And we wouldnt sell our perfect apartment. He also told me that I could go back to the school when we came back after a few years. But I still couldnt imagine how I could live without all my beloved people and things for a couple of years. The principal started speaking. I didnt pay attention until he told all students that were leaving the school to stand up. I did. He said some more things, but I couldnt hear him, I couldnt think straight. I sat back down. Our fourth Grade sang a song, called The Circle Game. The song reminded me so much of my life. We sang the song beautifully and then sat back down. And then the tears came; not only for me, but also for my friends. Well, thats the end of the story of my life. At least for right now. But there is so much that I will discover in Dubai. So this is only the beginning of my story. But this is all I can write about right now while I am still living the awesome live I have!

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