At this time in our lives it's just the two of us, your father lives in a separate house. You are six years old, first grader attending Saint Bridget Catholic Academy. I am 29 years old, and this is my second year at La Guardia Community College. Right now my major is Liberal Arts: Math and Science, but I want to get in to the nursing program, hopefully soon. We live in a small apartment in Brooklyn with our cat Tina. Together we share a happy and peaceful life. We are full of dreams and goals. I want to be a registered nurse to get a decent job and then buy the house with a nice garden that you dream of. You often tell me you want to be a scientist, and that's awesome! I will help you get there darling. By the time you read this letter you will be celebrating your 18th birthday. The purpose of this letter is to provide you with all the information about my pregnancy, the process of giving birth to you, and include all the factors that I believe affected your overall development. I want, through this letter, to offer you a kind of guideline I would like you to follow for when you become a parent. Or even use as a reference when you feel like you don't understand the reasons why you act or feel a certain way. I want you to know you are my biggest motivation, you keep me going, and every morning I see in your little face a new reason to pursue my dreams.
It was on a hot summer back in 2007. I was at the Connecticut apartment I shared with your father, when I found out I was pregnant. The news seemed unreal to me; exciting, but at the same time terrifying. What was I supposed to do now? I started to over think about how drastically my life was about to change. Instead of getting happy to know I was going to be a mother for the first time, I became depressed. That feeling of confusion and depression I was experiencing, I now know were influenced by different domains; social-emotional and social-cultural factors, and perhaps some biological factors, too.