Julie’s Story

When my senior year of high school began, I eagerly anticipated what the next year of my life would bring. However, while I was busy planning to attend college, things took a sudden turn in a different direction…

I became pregnant.

Now, instead of applying for college and scholarships, I was applying for a marriage certificate and starting a family. Two years later—and right after Christmas—when I was eight-and-a-half months pregnant with our second child, my 21-year-old husband decided he wanted to be single.

The shock didn’t fully set in until a few weeks later, as I lay awake in the hospital after just giving birth to my daughter. My family had left for the evening and my soon-to-be ex-husband, who was present for the birth, had gone forever. With my daughter in the nursery, the room was quiet for the first time.

And I was alone.

Weighted with every financial fear I could imagine, I started crying without knowing. A nurse passed my open door and stopped to ask if I was okay. “No,” was all I could manage to say.

In that moment, I had to face the truth: I was a statistic. I was a divorced woman and single mother of two at age 20. No, I wasn’t okay—I was frustrated at where I was in life. And although I was now a statistic, from that point forward, I became determined that my children would not be.