THE JOURNEY
By Madison, Harbor High School and GHYW Law and Public Safety Intern
Before I get into anything I want to talk about my past and how it shaped me today. So, today me and my mother do not get along. We are incompatible as my Nana says. Do not get me wrong I love my mom and care about her but she has hurt me quite a bit. And I forgave her a few days ago for everything she has done to me in the past because I cannot move on and live my life if I hold on to all that anger and hatred.
My mother and what have happened has shaped me into the mother I am today. I am a 16 year old mom with an almost 3 year old. She is the light of my life. She is my main reason for dragging my butt out of bed every day and I do have a lot of help with my whole family. When I found out I was pregnant, I had not had my period in almost four months. I told my mom sometime around Christmas. The first things that came out of my mouth was, “Mom please don’t be mad at me.” She thought I was on drugs or something bad. I did not have the best relationship with either of my parents at that time and I was most scared of telling my dad. I do not know why, but I always said I would wait till I graduate college to even think of having a kid. Well clearly that did not happen. And no, I did not purposely get pregnant.
My mom the next day had my aunt go to the store to get pregnancy tests. She brought them to the house and they both came back within 15 seconds that I was pregnant. My mom was mad she called Angela (my daughter’s other grandma) and I just remember telling my mom to hang up the phone. I did not want them knowing because I was scared. I did not want to see the disappointment in everybody’s faces. Cory (my daughter’s dad) did not take it well; he was only almost 15 at the time and was not ready to become a dad.
Throughout my whole pregnancy I had people actually offer to take her as an open adoption and I would see her whenever or it would be shared custody things like that and I had people who told me to get an abortion. But I keep my baby because it was my responsibility now no matter what happened this baby would be mine and I had to step up and take care of it.
Fast forward to June 20th, 2017 I had my beautiful baby girl who was a healthy 7 pounds 11 ounces. The labor and delivery were not beautiful or pleasant, there was drama and Child Protective Services (CPS) was involved because of reasons I am not allowed to talk about. But CPS participated in mine and my daughter’s life for six months. During this time, I started my first year in high school and took care of my daughter as I was doing parenting classes.
My dad, two brothers, my daughter and I were sleeping in one bedroom at my grandma’s house. It was a 3 bedroom house and my aunt and her two girls lived in the other room. So, there were a lot of people in one house. Until one day my uncle Steve got diagnosed with cancer and he moved into the room we were in and we moved into my uncle Mike’s house that had 3 more bedrooms. There was a lot more room and all this was within 4 to 6 months after I had my daughter.
A lot happened after that I was trying to get a job but nobody would hire me because of things in the past that had happened when I lived with my mom. Somebody (I am not allowed to say who) called CPS on me four more times because they want my daughter. But right now, I am in 11th grade about to begin running start and am involved with an amazing group called the Grays Harbor Youth Works program. They are helping me get some experience in the work world. I am going into law to become a police officer or a lawyer because that is what I am enthusiastic about. I am a 16 year old teen mom and am still shooting for my dreams. I just have a passenger on the crazy ride with me.
