Teen mom

she walks across the street pushing a baby stroller. From a distance she looks like a typical young mom with a baby in tow. As she gets closer you can see that she is carrying a backpack and singing to the bundle in the blue and white stroller.

Ashley is just 17. Her son, jared is 6 months old. "he was born the day after my 17th birthday," she explains, "i was in labor the day before my birthday, on my birthday, and he was born at 2:35am the day after my birthday." she makes herself comfortable on a bench in a park where there are other moms with their kids on a saturday morning. Jared is asleep and ashley gently pushed the stroller back and forth. "he likes the movement," she explains.

"i don’t like to talk about the baby’s father. We aren’t close, and he doesn’t think the baby is his. Paternity tests prove that he is, and he and his family are fighting paying the child support. He has only seen his son once, but he hasn’t ever held him or fed him," tears begin to roll down her face. "i can’t talk about it without crying."

she watches the face of her son in the stroller. "i love him so much, but sometimes I think I am not being the best mom I can be. He doesn’t have a dad, and I came from a home where there was a mom and a dad. My dad loves him so much, and I am thankful that he has a good grandpa." she pauses for a minute, "it is strange to think of my dad as a grandpa."

ashley talks about her friends and their reaction to her becoming a mom. "at first they thought it was cool, but most of them have faded away. Some of them don’t understand what a responsibility it is." she will finish her junior year in high school two weeks after mother’s day. "mother’s day… that is my mom’s day, and now I guess it is mine as well. Wow," she looks to the ground.

Ashley plans to attend college after she graduates. "i’m a pretty good student, and next year I can take some advanced classes in high school that will count for college credit. My folks have told me that they will help pay for my education, as long as I stayed in high school. I know that I need a good job to support my son. I hope to be an accountant. There is a great college about 100 miles from here, they have family housing, so I could live away from home and go to school. I know that I could do that, and they have daycare there as well. I am determined to make the best life I can for us."

the stroller hasn’t stopped moving the entire time she has been sitting. "i’m off to the library and then to the second-hand store to sell some of jared’s baby clothes that don’t fit him anymore. I can trade them in for bigger clothes for him. It works out pretty well, and I can get him what he needs and it doesn’t cost too much."

backpack on her back, she rises off the bench and pushes the stroller through the park. She waves good-bye as she begins to sing to the stroller where her son is sleeping.