我们绝大部分人都不曾有这样的经历—在年少时亲自募款、设计和建造一所房子，更不用说在建造房子的过程中还遭遇至亲去世这样沉重的打击。面对突如其来的磨难，是放弃还是继续？一起来听听当事人——美国佐治亚州的14岁女孩Sicily Kolbeck—是怎么说的吧。

I am building a tiny house. Not a dollhouse， but a livable space with bed， kitchen， storage—everything you'd need to live—in 128 square-feet.

Why did I decide to build a tiny house？ I hoped that building a house would give me life skills that really matter， such as using tools for construction. And in building the house， I would understand what labors1） go into a home—and truly appreciate what I am living in.

My tiny house was going to be 128 square-feet of pure determination. But this past year， life gave me plenty of curveballs2） and plenty of opportunities for my determination to falter3）. February 2013 gave me the curviest curve： my dad， one of my best friends and my tiny house construction partner， died in a car accident. Making the best out of4） any situation has always been a part of me， but this situation was different.

This is where my spark5） comes from now： the desire to finish my house for my dad. Because of this decision， I now have some life experiences that some adults don't have. I can relate not only to6） people who want to build a house， but also to people and kids who have lost a parent. And to all of them， I can say that giving up is not an option. Yes， it isn't fair， but a long time ago someone told me， "Life ain't fair， and you ain't special. Get used to it." So that's what I did. I got used it.

Still， without the help of friends， family， and my mum， I would probably have stopped my project. Our friend Luke came to help the week after my dad died； he knew I needed to get my walls up. The guidance from fellow tiny house builders and their families has been instrumental. And my mum should get some credit7）—if only for spending hours upon hours with me in a tiny wooden house with no air conditioning （in Georgia）. Putting windows in is nothing easy. Especially because when we first put them in， one of them we put in upside-down. The other one we put in sideways. We certainly didn't make it easy for ourselves. And installing electricity is not something you do in your dreams. Ten hours of stabbing your fingers with metal string and getting shocked8） a couple times is not ideal9）.

Sometimes when people get a hard knock， they stay down. I didn't. That's my claim to fame. I didn't only want to show it is possible to live with less waste， and that anyone can build their own house； I also wanted to show that when I was handed lemons， I not only made lemonade10）： I made a lemon cake. And I ate it. And it was delicious.endprint