I was only three years old and they just left me.

I grew frail as the food that was left in the cupboard had run out, even with the small portions I had been eating. One day, seven or eight months after my Mother and Father had left and a week after I ran out of food, a law enforcement officer found me all huddled in Mother and father's bed. He took me to an orphanage and that's where I lived until the fire for two wretched years. Life there was horrid, Miss. Harris was a cross woman and never treated us well. We were always hungry, always tired, and always cold. The only staff who treated me, or any of us with kindness, was Miss. Nellie. She constantly tried to sneak extra food and water when the cooks forgot to feed us. And provided us with warm blankets when the nights got cold and long.