2/3 ”If it had been up to me, I would have stayed with my grandmother. However, nobody asked us what we wanted. There were many children in the orphanage. We were divided into “families” of 20 kids. Luckily my siblings and I got to stay together. Every group had two social workers. One of the social workers for my group was named Mirsada. She treated us like we were her children. Whenever I was sad, I would lock myself up in my room and cry. Mirsada always noticed my absence, and would immediately come to me in my room and hold me tight. She knew our story and how much we were missing our grandmother and parents. When my sister turned eighteen, she became the first of us to leave the orphanage. She went to live with my grandmother. When I turned eighteen, I moved in with them. That’s when my grandmother gave me this ring. It belonged to my mother. My grandmother hid it in her pocket and managed to bring it from Srebrenica. It is one of the only things I have that belonged to my mother.”