Twenty-two million children in the United States go home to one parent; of those, 83% are moms. The most important person to me has to be my mother, Darlene Dennis. She has been there for me through thick and thin. She has helped me with my problems with school, my legal problems, and most recently, my relationship problems.
Since I could remember, school has been the biggest priority to my mother. She always said it is necessary I get my high school diploma. I started high school getting good grades. Then I started hanging around the wrong crowd, which led me to ditching, not doing my work, and being suspended. What it all came down to was me not graduating on time. My mother did everything she could to aide me in graduating. She paid for American School and my classes I took in the Human Success Program. Therefore, even though I did not graduate in '99 I did graduate in '01. I would have never done it without my mother's support.
Now since I graduated from high school I have a lot of time on my hands. Most of it was spent hanging with the wrong crowd again. It eventually led to me being in a lot of legal problems. Even though I was trying to continue my education, I was never able to finish the task. I was incarcerated twice, causing me to fail the classes I was taking. My mother not only bailed me out the first time, but she did it the next time, too. During my time in jail, my mother was the only one there for me from the beginning to the end. She came to every court date until she posted my bond. That will stand out in my mind forever.
Last, through all the craziness I was going through, I happened to be in what I thought was a very committed relationship. During my time in jail, my fiancée left me. I was devastated, but my mother would always tell me words of encouragement when I called her. The heartache did not end there. When I got out of jail, my fiancée and I got back together and once again, she left me.