My Story By Dan the Man Marcus; January 27, 1998  

So like everyone else I was born. It was February 6, 1985. But my birth mother was too young to take care of me so she had to give me up. I think that was very hard for her. I think she really cried a whole lot. I never got to meet her again but sometimes I wondered what she was really like. Was she like me? I guess I'll never know.

The people who adopted me couldn't have their own baby. When I was older they told me about my adoption. Get this! They told me they wrapped me in a big warm red blanket when they got me at the hospital because they forget to bring clothes. Not a good start but I still have that blanket. I have a kinda funny good feeling when I see it. And then on the way home they stopped for pizza. That part sounded pretty cool to me since I'm a pizza freak. They also told me that they tried many things to have a baby that didn't work. Isn't that silly? My birth mother did it so easy. I guess some people are more lucky than other people. But you know what happened? Take one guess.

Wrong!

When they were adopting me my new mother all of a sudden could have a baby. She called it IVF. So she had two babies, me and my sister Rebecca. But I was here first! I never let Rebecca forget that. I was six months older. The big brother.

We used to live in this big building in New York City on the 26th floor. I lived there till I was about 6 years old and then we moved out of the city. I don't remember a lot about things back then. But I got to keep the bunk beds we used to sleep in. They are in my room. So when I have freinds sleep over, I sleep on the top and they sleep on the bottom.

I remember when we lived in the city I used to play in the back. I had friends from my nursery school. And on weekends we would go to our country house. It had a million acres and a big lake and a tree where I could swing from a rope. When it snowed, boy it was so much fun. The snow was over my head. But my Mom and Dad had to sell our country house when we moved out of the city. I think I really miss it and I wish they never sold it.

We moved to a place called Larchmont and I went to school called Murray. Do you know why it was called Murray? It was called Murray because it was on Murray Avenue…duh! I liked school a whole lot. You know I really like being a kid. If I could be a kid forever, why not!

My favorite subjects were always math and science. I like puzzles and figuring things out. I could do puzzles that no one else could do. But the biggest thing that ever happened to me was when I learned to like computers. My uncle showed me a lot cause my Dad didn't know too much. Then I learned everything else by myself. I would spend hours on the computer playing games. And then the second biggest thing happened. We got on-line. That was fantastic. I talked to all my friends and even met people from Florida. I got a secret but I'll tell you anyway. When I was on-line I was really funny and nice to people. I think it is the realer me.

But hey, I forgot a bunch of other stuff I like. I like soccer. I got lots of trophies. I really like baseball. I can even throw a curve ball and my uncle says his hand hurts when he catches my pitches. My other uncle also likes the Yankees. I want to go to a game with him. I like magic. I can make a quarter disappear. I can spend it. That's a joke folks, so laugh.

I like woodworking. My aunt showed me some neat things. She even has a web site with her stuff. I like building things. I built this big roller coaster. I get along real well with my cousin because he likes building things also. He is a Lego maniac.

I once tried to like playing music. One of my Mom's friends showed me how to play the sax. He was cool but I couldn't blow hard enough to make a big sound.

Every summer, well most summers, I went to summer camp in New Hampshire. It was okay but I missed home a lot. I like the hiking best. I hated the food most. My counselors were great. I even had one from New Orleans.

In the winter we went skiing. Last year we went to Steamboat Springs and I skied in powder. I love Steamboat. I want to go back. Maybe someday.

We used go on fun family trips. We went to Yosemite, Disney World, Club Med in Mexico. I even went on a water thing there that went so fast it scared me.

But something always bugged me. I had asthma. Sometimes it was hard to breathe so I had to use medicine I could inhale. I hated that so much. The worst thing was an asthma attack. Made me feel like I could never breath again. But I always did. Until just one time.

Some other things about me. I like helping smaller kids. I taught the kid across the street to ride his bike. I love all animals. We had fish and we had gerbils, Snowy and Soxie, and now we have a rabbit named Snuffles. Well, it's my sister's rabbit. Cats make me sneeze because of my allergies. So, no cat.

My favorite baseball team is the Yankees. Man was I angry when they got killed in the first game of the world series against Atlanta. I threw a pillow at the television (Yeah, sometime I have a bad temper. So who is perfect?).

My favorite food is candy. After candy I like more candy. And after more candy I like Cinnamon Toast Crunch for breakfast. My favorite drink is Pepsi and root beer. Pizza is great. And I can eat spaghetti all the time. Ragu rules!

I go to a middle school now. I still like science and the teachers even ask me to help them with their computers. When I grow up, my ambition is to have a job testing computer games. But maybe I will be a scientist also. I like mysteries and puzzles like scientists.

Well, that's me. And even though you can't hug me or kiss me right now anymore, you can always leave me a message. We have super computers up here on Orion. I am on-line with a billion planets. The biggest chat room ever. And we laugh all the time. But I do miss you all. My parents wanted me to ask you to help find ways to stop asthma and other diseases from taking away children. If I was back with you and it was my friend who was gone, I would do it for sure.

That's about it. My life was great. Love to you all. Special love to my family and close friends and my on-line buddies. Look for me at night in Orion. I blink a lot to show you I'm still here and I love you all.

Da bomb diggity and dats wack!!!