My name is Sarah Jay Richards, but I go by Jay, because I refuse to be called Sarah. Everyone has reasons, and mine is extremely valid.
My dad had been trained in the United States army, but he never actually got called in to fight, that is until I was 6 years old. So it was just my mom and I, Sarah Richards.
We got along fine with my dad gone, we missed him every day, but we held up. Then the day finally came when he got to come home, I remember that day like the back of hand.
*ding dong*
I dropped all of my books and bolted to the front door. Finally, I can finally see my dad again, after a whole two years. I swung the front door open with a smile on my face, but that slowly faded when a general officer stood at my door step.
"Richards family?" He asked. You could here the dull and unenthusiastic tone in his voice, like it was a pain for him to say what he was about to.
My mom appeared in the doorway behind me, "Yes officer?" She asked, her fragile voice cracking at the end of the sentence.
Me being 8 years old, I had little idea of what was going on.
"I am sorry to inform you that your husband, and your father," he said to us, "went missing during combat and it is unlikely he will be found," he finished.
My mom, stood in tears. Me, all I could do was stand there, rekindling the memories my dad and I had made, from the time he first took me into the water, all the way to the time where I road my first wave to shore.
I couldn't bare the thought any longer, and without warning, sprinted through the door and grabbed my board, disappearing down the street.
// three days later
I skated down the street on my board, pulling into my driveway. I walked inside, expecting to see my mom. "Ma?" I called out. Nothing.
I thought she'd been working a late shift or something, so I walked upstairs, did my homework, showered, made some microwaveable pizza and went to bed.
// next morning
"Ma?" I called out, receiving no response again. I was shocked she'd not yet come home, but I needed to get to school, so I called her cell from the house phone, but it went straight to voicemail.
"Hey mom, call me back when you get this, love you, bye," I spoke, hanging up. I shrugged it off and skated to school.
Same pattern, that was the same pattern for two more days, to come home without my mother's presence.
On the third day, the heartbreaking realization finally me; she left. I dropped to my knees and cried, I cried and cried and cried.
I had no one. I had no dad, I had no mom, I had no family. I was an orphan.
I took the house phone and called the only number I could, my grandma's.
I also made a decision, from that day forward, I am Jay.
Now, I'm 16, and I've made a name for myself. I'm one of the most well known surfers in California, and I win every contest I compete in, and I don't plan on losing anytime soon.
