People are so dang Ignorant

I walk around this town knowing a lot of the other younger mothers due to most of the volunteer work i do.
There is a lot of different stories about lots of different mothers and how they came to be mothers at an age like this.
When i hear comments about teen pregnancy being \"glamorized\" or how easy it must be for me because my parents are involved in my daughters life it makes me mad! Yes there is a show called Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant, when you watch it close enough you can tell some of it is fake... isn't that what a reality show is there for? Some drama, some pretend reality? It is certainly NOT a documentary of someone who is actually going through a lot of this stuff.

The glares and the whispers while your in line at the Grocery store. The gossip when you walk through the halls at the high school as you try to hurry between classes hiding your stomach under baggy clothes, discovering your baby daddy is cheating on you with some other girl. Holding back the tears in your eyes as everyone seems to forget you have some emotions.. maybe a little more now that you're hormones are a little unbalanced ..

The girls I mentor come from all different backgrounds, some as young as the age of 12. The stories I hear some of them are horrific, make you cry.Most of them are between the ages of 14 to 21 and we all have a close bond. Our children play together, we go shopping together, we spend time together outside of the counseling center.
The story that sticks with me, is one I'd like to share with other people. I am not allowed to disclose her name.

We met almost a year ago, she has a little boy the same age as my daughter. They played well he was a happy little kiddo. We talked about our friends and where to shop at, at first the talk was very light and delicate. Both of us didn't say much about where the kids's fathers were. I don't think either of us had the heart to break each others moment of peace.
And then she took me off guard, started crying.
She told me her little boys dad was her stalker, who cornered her and raped her. How she had to have the baby because her parents would disown her if she had an abortion. How she was scared for her life because she couldn't keep a restraining order in place on him because she lived out of town a little bit.
(not that a restraining order would do anything but that's just my opinion)

I thought WOW... how can she look at her little boy and love him the way i love my daughter? But she does and she's doing wonderful now, moved away and going to school, working full time taking care of her little boy. We see each other from time to time.

I am very lucky. I had the chance to finish school even when the high school turned their noses up at me i kept going. I wanted it for myself. I wanted it for the unborn baby in my womb. I didn't need the dad around, i wanted it to work that way but i didn't need him to keep myself going. And i proved that, I am still proving that. I am not saying i have not made any mistakes but i am saying i wanted it for myself.

When you want something hard enough you can get it. You just have to tell yourself you can do it.