One of the worst feelings in the world is to have absolutely no control over anything. It was bad enough that I was barely seventeen and pregnant but now I was roughly 2200 miles and eight states away from home. I wasn't even in the South like I had so fervently asked, but almost as far north as you could go without being in Canada. I was tired, sick to my stomach, and once again finding myself "kidnapped" on the orders of my own parents. I was set and determined to get any control back I could through any means I could and not let anyone take it away from me again.
The place I ended up was called Florence Crittenton Home and there are places similar to the one in Montana all over the United States. I didn't think I'd make a single friend there but somehow I found myself a home of sorts. Most of the other girls there were from Montana and had been sent there by the state for various reasons and some had even chosen to come (something I have trouble understanding even now). The Home is a safe place for young girls to come that provides food, shelter, and a number of counseling services. I feel like an ad right now but it really is a great place to find yourself if you're young and pregnant with little to no options. There are, of course, challenges to living with ten other pregnant or parenting teenagers but you form a bond with them that's very different. I went to high school in Montana and I made a few friends in school but I didn't hang out after school and I didn't have a cell phone to call them with so my only friends were those at the Home. I feel like the biggest challenge though was having Daddy so very very far away. He only got to visit twice total. Once when I was about six months along and then again when it was my due date. I was actually induced the night before he was supposed to leave and he only got one day with Violet before he had to go back home. She was two or three weeks old by the time he saw her again. It would have been unbearably hard for to cope with if I hadn't had Sarah, Kara, Maria, Jane, or any of the other amazing staff members there. Even through all my ire, hellfire, and stubborness they managed to get close to me. I met Jane first and the first thing I said to her was that I'd been kidnapped. It cracks her up now :). What I'm really trying to say here is that if you find yourself young and pregnant or just alone and pregnant there are places like this all over the country and before you find yourself too far down the rabbit hole you should check one out. Having a good support system is good no matter what you decide about your pregancy.
If you live in the Montana area and would like to donate you can go here
and if you live anywhere else you can google Florence Critteton and your state to find their website.
The place I ended up was called Florence Crittenton Home and there are places similar to the one in Montana all over the United States. I didn't think I'd make a single friend there but somehow I found myself a home of sorts. Most of the other girls there were from Montana and had been sent there by the state for various reasons and some had even chosen to come (something I have trouble understanding even now). The Home is a safe place for young girls to come that provides food, shelter, and a number of counseling services. I feel like an ad right now but it really is a great place to find yourself if you're young and pregnant with little to no options. There are, of course, challenges to living with ten other pregnant or parenting teenagers but you form a bond with them that's very different. I went to high school in Montana and I made a few friends in school but I didn't hang out after school and I didn't have a cell phone to call them with so my only friends were those at the Home. I feel like the biggest challenge though was having Daddy so very very far away. He only got to visit twice total. Once when I was about six months along and then again when it was my due date. I was actually induced the night before he was supposed to leave and he only got one day with Violet before he had to go back home. She was two or three weeks old by the time he saw her again. It would have been unbearably hard for to cope with if I hadn't had Sarah, Kara, Maria, Jane, or any of the other amazing staff members there. Even through all my ire, hellfire, and stubborness they managed to get close to me. I met Jane first and the first thing I said to her was that I'd been kidnapped. It cracks her up now :). What I'm really trying to say here is that if you find yourself young and pregnant or just alone and pregnant there are places like this all over the country and before you find yourself too far down the rabbit hole you should check one out. Having a good support system is good no matter what you decide about your pregancy.
If you live in the Montana area and would like to donate you can go here
and if you live anywhere else you can google Florence Critteton and your state to find their website.
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