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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 1993)
Travis Heying/DN hter, Jennifer,with school work. Both mother and daughter n^ry school. tricky balancing act nd woman’s attention rv _ _ f ^ • a - i 'uugiaa said. Merry is divorced from her husband and receives ho child support 6r alimony. She has no idea where he might be, and he has had no contact with her or their child. Merrv decided to go to col lege eight years after sne gradu ated from high school to im prove her life for her and Jennifer’s well-being. “Jennifer was 8 when I started going to school, I pretty much tried to get my classes during the day while she was in school," Douglas said. “During the summer I had to pay for a sitter." Douglas also said that her daughter was enrolled in a sum-, mer program. Although Douglas admits that it is physically ana mentally bur dening to raise a child alone, she said she enjoyed and continued to enjoy motherhood. “It is stressful, you have to do all the cooking and cleaning and makesure that (Jennifer's) home work is done, and then do your homework," she said. “Before I started attending the university, I was a stay-home mom," Douglas said. “Now I’m gone all the time because of school and it’s very hard not being home with Jennifer. But, ■ Marty of th£ for her Merry met Chamberlain six months ago through a dating service. "I read this ad one time and I thought that his ad was really nice — he wasn’t asking for physical features, he was asking for inner beauty," Douglas said. Douglas said the relationship between Marty and Jennifer is great. “They play around like father and daugnter," she said. Douglas said that with her being gone most of the day, Marty is a great help with the housekeeping and with Jennifer. Now that Merry will soon be graduating, she will no longer be a single mom and wil* have the ooportunity to spend more quality time with her daughter and her soon-to-be husband. Jennifer has become more understanding of why she can’t yet see her mother as much while Merry’s in school. i “(But) she still wants mommy to take her swimming." A purpose Two lives begin with birth of boy I was 17 and pregnant! As a high school sophomore I didn’t have the slightest idea of what I wanted out of life, and at thatpoint in my life I couldn’t seem to find a purpose or direction. Now I was being forced to make decisions about my life as I never had before. At first I tried to ignore the fact that 1 had a human being growing inside my body. I pretended that this problem would go away. Time, nevertheless, made the physical changes increasingly more appar ent. Who would be able to comfort me and give me advice about my condition? I felt so scared and all alone. At the time of this occurrence in my life, I was living in a very small town—a town in which the people seemed to know things about ev eryone else. Feeling scared and alone, I went to my closest friend and explained what was happening to me. She became vety withdrawn. At that point others were being informed of my situation. I began to feel more alone and kept to myself. It became harder and harder for me to get up in the morning and face the world. My world seemed to be coming to an end. Life was becoming unbearable. What would I do? I couldn’t continue pretend ing that my body was not changing and that there was not a tiny, pre cious life growing inside of me. The staring eyes of the students, the pressure of the townspeople closing in around me was just too much to take. I had to make a decision and make it soon. Upon first realizing that I was pregnant my first thoughts were: What would people think about me? I’m not ready to be a parent! I didn’t want to interrupt my life as a teen-ager with a somewnat blos soming potential. I didn’t want to face the embarrassment that would surely come. What would my par ents say and what would they think [of me? And what would people think about my parents? Ail oi inese tnougnts came 10 me over and over again. I had known many girls who had become pr«g nant, bul it was always a hush-nush thing and most of them got abor tions or were old enough to marry. Still, I couldn’t have imagined that this would have happened to me. And marriage was certainly not a consideration for me. I was now fi ve-and-a-half months pregnant. I had accepted the fact that 1 was pregnant and decided to have an abortion. All that I thought about from then on was getting rid of the problem of being pregnant. The Lord helped me to realize that 1 didn’t really think about all the options available to me in rela tion to my pregnancy. All I had i* * aboutwasgettingridofmy On Dec. 31, 1983, people all over the world seemed to be cel ebrating the festivities of the New Year. However, it wasn’t a happy time for me. I was so stressed put from the pressure of not having See JOY on 10 In the last several I weeks, many School of I Music events have been I incorrectly listed by the I Daily Nebraskan & I Diversions Magazine. I We arc sorry for I any inconvenience this I has caused. For correct I information on I upcoming School of I Music events, call I 472-9366 I * fHHii I IMPORT CLOTHING lr ACCESORJES. HEMP & I RAYON CLOTHING. HEMP PRODUCTS. TREE FREE I PAPER. JEWELRY. CRYSTAIS BEADS & SUPPLIES. I INCENSE. OILS. CANDLES. HAIR WRAPS. T-SHIRTS. I TYE DYES. BATIK. CARVINGS. MASKS. ART. LIFE I SUPPLEMENTS. BOOKS ft MAGAZINES AND MORE! I 700 "O" Street (in the haymaricet - under the viaduct) II 474-2955 <2 J Open 12-7 Daily or by appointment • * I Lincoln's largest selection of shades, T-shirts, Ravewear and Volleygear. 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