December 1991

Temperance Brennan had grown up in a typical family. For the first fifteen year of her life she had a mother, father and a brother. They acted like a normal family would, get along most of the time, but still argue about normal family things. She and her brother had a normal relationship, she admired him and he would look out for her. Often he was one of the only people she could depend on, regardless of whether she hated him that day or not.

Her mother and father were typical parents too. Normal jobs a science teacher and a bookkeeper, and always had time to love and care for their children. Temperance knew her parents loved her and would always protect her. Her family would go out together for picnics, or out somewhere just to enjoy being together as a family. She and her mother shared a love for dolphins, which from the outside may looked unimportant, but to them was a special bond between them.

Temperance had all she could ever want, a loving family. She didn't care that she had barely any friends at school or that people thought she was weird because she was smart and loved to read. She was able to enjoy her life just knowing that her family would always be there to love her and help her overcome any obstacle she would face. Or that's what she thought until that day.

Starting off typically, it was a weekend so no school for her or work for her parents. Usually weekends were the times where they would do things as a family. If that morning she was told that by the end of the day, her life would have changed, she wouldn't have it. The day started off as it normally would, she woke up, went to the kitchen and found her parents drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. They were acting like they normally would any other day. The rest of the day was uneventful, with Temperance spending most of the time reading or doing her homework.

She thought nothing of it when her parents left for the shops late in the afternoon. It was getting closer to Christmas, so she guessed they were doing last-minute shopping for then. They waved her goodbye and said they would be back later. Little did she know that this would be the last time she would ever see them again. When her parents hadn't arrived home after several hours she thought they must have gotten caught up talking to someone they knew. When the night was turning into day and they hadn't returned she began to panic. Hours turned into days, with still no word from them.

When Christmas rolled around, her brother Russ thought he was doing the right thing by making Christmas for his sister. His plan back-fired which saw him leave before New Years. Temperance began the New Year with a social worker picking her up from her house, telling her to pack only what she really needed or wanted. The only personal sentiments she had were her un-opened Christmas presents, a few pieces of her mother's jewelry, as many photos as she could find and her favourite books. She was given a garbage bag to fill with those items and clothes and was then forced to leave her childhood home.

She was alone and unwanted. She was placed in a group home, where she was extremely uncomfortable, partly due to her lack of social skills and the fact that she knew that wasn't where she wanted to be. After many weeks in the group home she was placed with a foster family, a young couple who were only in their twenties. At first she thought it would be easier to be away from the other children, but she knew she didn't want another new environment. She had already lost her trust in everyone, she felt as if no one cared about what happened to her at all. All she was waiting for was someone she could trust, without having to analyze whether or not they cared about her.