This Year's Wish: Please Let Me Live
My adoptive mother's name is Esther Garcia. On New Year's Eve, she led five-year-old me out of the orphanage and named me Bowie Easton.
"Bowie, your older brother is named Bruce Easton. Your birthday falls on January 1st, New Year's Day, which symbolizes a new beginning. So, make a wish every year on your birthday. Making a wish means a fresh start. It's full of hope," she said.
I nodded vigorously, my teeth chattering from the cold.
Back then, I didn't understand that every time I made a wish, Esther would take something from my body.
At six, I wished to see fireworks. She took my bone marrow.
At seven, I wished for a Transformer. She took one of my kidneys.
At eight, I wished for cak