By: Alexa Marquez Pulido

When I was in middle school, I had a crush on a very handsome boy in my class who I never had the chance to speak to. Later on, we graduated from middle school and moved to different high schools.

Years passed and I never heard from him again, until one day during my last year of high school, I went to a public library to print work for school, and I was having some trouble with my computer. A few minutes later, a gentleman came and asked me what the problem was. I noticed that it was that boy from middle school and he recognized me as well. Moments later, we started to talk about how our lives have changed since we last saw each other. After having a long conversation, he asked me on a date and I accepted.

It went from one date, to many more. Time passed by, and we decided to start a relationship. After a year of dating, I got pregnant — something that was unexpected. It was a very intense moment for the father and I , because we were not prepared to have a baby. My mother was not aware that I was pregnant until I was 2 months along. She was very upset and disappointed because she wished I would’ve had the opportunity to get older and achieve all my dreams before having the responsibility of taking care of a child. We got into many fights about the topic, and she stopped talking to me for a while. However, my mother came up with the conclusion that I must have the baby and be responsible for him/her, so she provided me with all the health care I needed for the baby to be healthy.

A few months later, the father asked me to marry him, because he and the rest of his family believed it was the right thing to do for the baby. I said no to the marriage proposal but I still told the father that he could get as involved as he wished to. We got into many arguments and we decided to end our relationship and only focus on the baby. However, the father did not provide the requirements we both agreed on for the pregnancy and he stepped away. So, I knew I was going to be raising the baby alone and with the support of only my mother. After the baby was born, all the problems with my mother and I were fixed and she completely fell in love with the baby. In that moment, I realized that my daughter was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. #FamilyStruggle #LifeChallenges  #Womanpower