As a single mother the only difference between me and any other young mother out there was that first 12 years of foundational education. From age 6 to 18 my head was in a book or in a class; I had a great start. By the time ‘life happened’ I had the internal resources to move forward with purpose.
I never once stopped to think that my situation was unique or tragic in any way because every young mother, I met in the workplace had a similar plight and in hindsight this should have set off alarm bells.
When you are the sole bread winner for your children you become obsessive about control and forward planning, the word victim does not settle in your mind or your heart. To move you have to believe you have everything you need within you to turn every situation into an opportunity.
So at the age of 20 with no home, no car, no work experience and a mouth to feed all I could think about was I am a mother and that job description stuck. Mothers make it work!
In my lifetime I have been all these women.
The glass shattered when my grown boys now aged 26 and 22 said,
Mom, there is nothing ok about this.
To all the young girls out there, fight for your books; education cannot wait.
