Youth

[enduringplum]

Being young is very complicated, especially when one is young and "in love;" I know this from personal experience! Life for my best friend's younger sister just got a lot more complicated, because she may be pregnant and she's only seventeen. Her dad seems to be handling it pretty well, but her mom blew her top when she first came to them with the news. It's not something to freak out over, it's just a mistake, but I certainly understand her mom's reaction; my mom would have reacted exactly the same way— if not worse— if I had told her when I thought I was pregnant at about that age (I may have even been a year younger). I love this girl like she's my own sister and I hope I communicated that to her when I spoke to her this evening. I also let her know that I'll do anything I can to help her in any way I can, and that it is not acceptable for her to move to Missouri to be with the father or to postpone college; she has a full scholarship which she'll lose if she postpones going to college for even a year. I firmly believe that the boy in question is in no way prepared to handle the responsibilities of fatherhood, as he's in his twenties, still lives at home with his mom and dad, and has no real college or professional experience, not to mention the fact that he can't even be bothered to be polite to this girl's parents, friends, or family; that is a clear red flag.

What it comes down to is that this is just a mistake and one that any girl her age might make. It's a mistake I nearly made and one her mother did make, but it's not one that will ruin her life unless she allows that or isn't given the support she needs, which will be a lot! I will support her completely and so will her sister, so I just hope she'll let herself rely on us.