You learn more when you teach.


kate_gosselin_is_struggling.jpg *singing*
As I look back over my life
And I think things o-o-ver
I can truly say, that I’ve been blessed.
I’ve got a testimony.

I’ve been doing the Single Moms and More show on Blog Talk Radio for almost a month now. And in my quest to help other single moms navigate their way through single motherhood, I’m realizing just how far I’ve come in my own journey. I often jokingly say that I was a teenage mom three times, and that’s only because I ran out of teenage years, and not because I stopped having children. I had my girls at 17, 18 and 19, and my son at 21. I separated from my husband exactly six months later, while I was pregnant with another son, and a week after being furloughed from my “secure” government job.

My husband took everything but the kids and the broken end of the sectional sofa (he took the other pieces). I didn’t get an unemployment check until the day before I went back to work. I moved into my apartment on a $100 move-in special, but since I didn’t get a check for two months, I had to make arrangements with the leasing office for the second and third months. I fell down the stairs when I was six-months pregnant, and started hemorrhaging to the point where I had to where my son’s diapers, because pads weren’t enough. My husband came over and got the children while I drove myself to the hospital (diaper and all). My son was stillborn, and since I was so broke, busted and disgusted, I had to let the hospital handle the disposal of the body. The next day I called to tell my husband I was home, and he dropped the children off at the door, and kept it moving.

It was rough going. But through it all, I didn’t give up. And that’s my message to single moms who may feel like they’re at the end of their rope, physically or emotionally. I know my story is not an original script. But, believe me when I tell you it gets greater later. You may feel like you’re not going to make it, but if you just hold on a little while longer, there’s a brighter day ahead.

Related posts:
1. If You Want a Good Role Model for Your Kids, Pick a Good Daddy
2. Ten Things I Wish I’d Done Before Having Kids
3. I Know How to Leave. Teach Me How to Stay.
4. High Maintenance, High Standards, or Just High Hopes?
5. What Do Daughters Really Want From Their Daddies?
6. A Letter to My Younger Self: Out of adversity comes greatness
7. A Letter to My Younger Self, part 2: Try doing self-help