𝐒𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 • 𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐠

His Vulnerabilities

"When my parents met they were only young, my mother was in her senior year of high school and my dad in his last year of business college. Despite their age difference and the scorn from their parents, my grandparents, they fell in love and from that love came me."

"Although mum was in high school and had her whole life ahead of her she still wanted to keep me and luckily when she told dad he very much wanted to keep me too. He even proposed because he loved her and he wanted our family to truly be together, dad wanted mum to know that he was ready to step up and take care of us."

"Mum said yes and thankfully Mum was lucky to have fallen pregnant in the latter half of her final year so she was still able to complete her senior school year. But being pregnant and trying to maintain good grades was hard, even more so because she was trying to keep the pregnancy a secret from her parents"

"It was at the end of her senior year that she announced the pregnancy to both her and dads family. While dad's side were shocked at first they eventually came around, and the initial scorn that mum faced from them was masked by the fact that another generation was ensured for their side of the family. Mums side couldn't see past the fact that an older boy had gotten their daughter pregnant though. They chided her on her recklessness and they detested that dad had ruined her future. When mum told them she was keeping her unborn child and that she was marrying dad, they snapped and kicked mum out"

"Even though dad's parents were supportive of everything and they were happy for mum to move in, Dad didn't want to be a burden to them, he had a lot of pride and wanted to take care of us on his own. So with what little money he had he moved out with mum into a one bedroom apartment. Dad worked his butt off to finish his degree and take care of mum and I, and when I was born he worked twice as hard, but it wasn't enough"

"They could barely take care of themselves let alone me so mum had made the choice that she needed to go to work. But my parents couldn't afford day care, and they couldn't afford to have someone at home taking care of me so they needed to find a place that provided day care as well as a place to work. It was a huge struggle though, to find a place that would take a fresh out of high school mother with no degrees other than her high school diploma, the places that would take her had no way to support her baby"

"Mum and dad were at a loss on what to do until one particular day. Mum always says it was a sunny day when she first laid eyes on the second hand store which would become our saving grace, and she always liked to laugh because it was the silver sign that sat out front of the store inviting customers inside that had been the thing that caught her eye, quite literally as the glare of the sign shone in my mother's eyes"

"But that light was like a calling card, and despite remarkably never going into a second hand store in her life she found herself walking into this particular one with me in the arms. She said that when she entered the store the women that worked there flocked to her to see her baby and they complimented her on how she looked so youthful even though she was a mother and also how I was so quiet. Mum spoke about her story, our families story, the women that worked their took the time to listen to her and her worries and unexpectedly they offered her a job"

"They said that while they didn't have day care they were quite happy to have her bring me with her and they insisted that as long as I wasn't disruptive that I could remain by her side while she worked. Her soon to be boss even cleared a out a space in the back of the store where she could place a crib and a couple other necessities to take care of me"

"Dad wasn't completely sold on the idea at first, he preferred that I go to day care or better yet he wanted mum at home, but to ensure they had a home in the first place they needed the money, and with job opportunities for mum being so slim dad eventually accepted it, knowing that mum and I were in great hands"