Becoming a Single Mother Changed My Life Essay -- How Motherhood Has C

Becoming a Single Mother Changed My Life (For the Better!) Everyone remembers a specific incident that has profoundly affected his or her life. I remember my special memory as if it happened yesterday; and that memory will always be as detailed. My life-altering occurrence happened when I was fresh out of high school. As an 18-year-old, I was known as out-going and friendly, as well as a bit ditsy. I drank Mountain Dew religiously and smoked cigarettes with the same feverish devotion. I also smoked pot recreationally and drank alcohol less regularly. I was a bit immature. All I cared about was feeling good and having fun. My boyfriend Randy and I were inseparable. We did everything together and we loved each other intensely. We had been dating for a year and a half; nothing else mattered to us except each other. Then, in July, everything changed. At the end of that month, Randy and I went to the drug store and bought a pregnancy test. We traveled to a friend's house and hid in the hot, stuffy bathroom to await the outcome. Randy and I sat on the hard, scummy bathroom floor holding each other while the test sat on the edge of the sink, developing an answer. Averting our eyes, we dared not look until the required two minutes were up. We both stood up and peeked at the result. It read "positive." I immediately began to cry. Randy saw my despair and clutched me close, smiling with pride. His unexpected favorable reaction put me at ease. Knowing that he was proud of having a baby made me delighted to bear his child. I knew I had received a precious gift from Randy and from God. Knowing the importance of the baby's life and health, I quickly quit smoking cold turkey and cut caffeine out of my diet; both of which were ... ...y to buckle down to the responsibilities. The job was left to me. Unlike Randy, who made preparing for fatherhood a loathsome chore, I made motherhood important and enjoyable. Preparing for it in that fashion made my transition in life less strenuous. It's still not easy, knowing that the most valuable person in my life has unpredictably rejected his child and me. I just have to remember that Randy did it because he was unwilling to stray from his easy life, and not because I was doing something wrong to him. Conquering everything all by my lonesome, I'm now successfully raising a baby, going to school full-time at State University, and working part-time. I'm a confident mother and have a new sense of self-worth. I have a son to live for now, so I still take care of my health, even though I'm not carrying a child. I owe it all to a little peek at a pregnancy test.