No. #23

"I was a single mother struggling, but I was determined for her to have a better life than I had. I just refuse to give up. I didn’t know what I was gonna do, or how I was going to take care of her. But giving her up? That was not an option. And keeping her was the best decision I ever made."

I have one child and she was unplanned. I don’t come from a great background. My parents were married, but my father was a crack addict and my mother she was schizophrenic. I got pregnant in New York. I was dating my best friend’s cousin. He and I have no contact, we don’t need him.

I cried for 6 months. I cried for 6 months because I didn’t have a mother growing up, but I wasn’t sure how I would fare being a mother myself.

My aunt wasn’t too happy to hear that I was pregnant as a single mom, but she let me know that I had faced so many trials and tribulations growing up that this was just another that I would push through. I’ve always been able to make it through life.

I grew up without light, food, even water sometimes, because of the lifestyle my parents chose, but I did homework by candlelight and I made sure I was successful in life.

I was a single mother struggling, but I was determined for her to have a better life than I had. I just refuse to give up. I didn’t know what I was gonna do, or how I was going to take care of her. But giving her up? That was not an option. And keeping her was the best decision I ever made.

She’s 7 years old now. She is amazing. She’s into gymnastics. Very smart, very intelligent girl. She’s very loving. I couldn’t ask for a better kid. We talk a lot. I always make sure she feels like she has love. Everyday when I get home, even though I'm tired, we go play a game. Board game, Batman on the Xbox, something. We have tetherball in the backyard, it's just about showing her love every day.