34 Years ago I was pregnant. I did not have a college degree and neither did my husband. We lived in a shack of a house on the bad side of town. There were those who thought that having a baby at that time was inconvenient since we could not "afford" to have one.
We had no medical insurance and I had to sit in the "free" welfare clinic seen by the same doctors that the women with insurance would see in their nice clean office just a few blocks away. We could not give our child anything that I had wanted to give a child. I could have had an abortion.
But I didn't.
There was not a day that went by that I wished things were different sitting in that nasty waiting room. There were those who still said, "you can fix that 'mistake'."
But I didn't.
My husband was terrified of becoming a father. Instead of giving in to his fear as I had done in a previous marriage, I steeled myself for the trials to come. I could have given up.
But I didn't.
I had a wonderful pregnancy. I absolutely glowed with anticipation of the new life within me. I could have gotten depressed over what I was missing and what we could not give this child.
But I didn't.
I had our baby. He was so wonderful. He was cute. He was the best thing that I had ever done in my life. I would not trade his life for a piece of paper on the wall that said I spent years to get a degree so I could work at a job I 'love" and retire with an immense IRA or 401K or investment portfolio. I could have spent years regretting my "choice".
But I didn't!
My son will be 34 in just a few weeks. I imagine he and his wife are also glad that I didn't.
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