Abby Connolly
I’ve always admired people who unexpectedly had kids at a young age but were able to work hard as they became adults so they could support their children in the future.
One mother had her daughter when she was 17 and worked hard to give her daughter a better life. But when she remarried and had more children, her daughter became jealous of her half-siblings’ childhood.
After she had her daughter, CJ, during her teenage years, she became a single mom when CJ’s father decided not to stick around.
“We really struggled for a bit,” she remembered.
“Even when I graduated college, I had a bunch of student loan debt as well as juggling rent, food, and other expenses. CJ never lacked necessities, but I admit she didn’t get a lot of material possessions.”
As a young mom, she did her best to make holidays and birthdays memorable for CJ. Besides that, she rarely received any gifts and only went on two vacations throughout her childhood.
As a result, they lived through a lot of CJ’s childhood teetering on the poverty line.
Finally, years later, when CJ was 17, she was debt free. She got a promotion at her job and could provide CJ with more exciting experiences. For instance, when she got her work bonus, she took CJ to DisneyWorld, a place she never thought she’d be able to visit as a little kid.
“It was nice that after years of struggling, I could spoil her a little,” she said.
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