With my head held high, and a heavy heart, I came to the hard realization that I would be raising my unborn child alone. I knew there were hard times ahead but, it was time for a change in my life. It was the right thing to do because I couldn't live my life in these conditions anymore. I was content that the worst had already passed, and had hope that the best was still to come. .
It all started when I was seventeen. I met a man named Melvin, he was 6'1'' and 190 bs. Today, he is the father of my daughter. I was young and bored and didn't have my priorities straight. At the time I was not focused on going to college as I should have been. Hanging out with Melvin was something to do. .
Since he was older than me he had a car and an apartment, and I felt in the beginning he was fun. He was four years older than me and I was still in high school. I now realize he was taking advantage of the fact that I was young and nave. He became jealous and physically abusive, and after two long years of breaking up and getting back together I made up my mind and knew it was time to break the cycle. I wanted to live a happier life, and that meant life without Melvin. I had recently recognized and found the situation with Melvin to be unacceptable and hopeless.
"I am a good girlfriend to this man, and deserve to be treated better. From this day forward, I am officially at the beginning of the end of this relationship! I said convincingly to myself. I had allowed him to cross the line too many times. .
The official separation from this unhealthy relationship started with a few unfortunate events. After I had my mind set on never getting back with him, I then found out I was pregnant. "How could you have even wanted a baby with that jerk at one point? " I yelled out loud at myself. At that moment I realized I had been immature and irresponsible with my life. I realized I made a choice to get pregnant and knew I had to hold myself accountable for my decision and take ownership of my situation.
