My fiancé and I are 24 years old and raising a 13-year-old. Quite an interesting statement given we would have had to be 11 when we had a kid. Not exactly a common occurrence. Let me jump back to the beginning.
My father was never really in the picture for about the past 12 years of my life. We had a bad relationship to begin with and after my parents divorced, that relationship deteriorated even more. It was up to my mother to raise me and my younger brother. Things weren’t the easiest, but we made them work. About 9 years ago, I lost my older brother. He was a single father doing his best in a bad world to raise his daughter in a better life than he had. He passed away in his home and his daughter (my niece) was the one who found him when she was about 4 or 5. Her mother was a drug addict, so my mother (my niece’s grandmother) took custody of my niece. My niece’s mother passed away about a year later. Things improved (minus the obvious trauma) for a while. But with me, my mother, my brother, and my niece all in the same house, things got a little more difficult, but once again we made it work.
About 4 years ago, I finally got my life together enough to move out of the house. I moved in with my fiancé to provide for ourselves and ease the financial burden on both of our parents (she was also being raised by a single mother much like myself). We got an apartment and enjoyed the first couple years of our young adult life. All was well until my mother got sick. About 3 years ago, my mother started to get sick. She put off going to the doctors because she was a stubborn mule. When she finally went to the doctors about a year after she started having issues, she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.
Things were a little shaky for a while, but we continued to make it work. She was going through her treatments and multiple surgeries for a host of other issues. I was stopping over on a constant basis to help take care of things. Her condition worsened and children and youth had to get involved as she was unable to take care of the kids. My father took custody of my brother, and my fiancé and I took custody of my niece. After a few hospital stays, my mother passed away. This was about a year ago. We applied for custody for my niece and were granted full custody. We were enow 24-year-old parents of a 13-year-old. Due to the extreme trauma, my niece had a lot of mental issues. She’s had some suicidal issues over the past few months. We’ve been taking her back and forth between appointments to get her the help that she needs. We’re also going through counseling to deal with our issues as well.
My fiancé is attending school to become a teacher while also working a couple small jobs on the side while she’s in school. I’m working 2 jobs. I’m trying to provide both of them with a nice life. Trying to give them some stability that they haven’t had in the past. Right now we’re a little behind on rent and other bills. Any amount will help catch up. Any extra will go into a rainy-day fund. Thanks to everyone. I wish you the best in your future endeavors.
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