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turn seemed to help with single motherhood, having to work

late, and everything else.

If I cooked, it was enchiladas, tuna with noodles, or
pork chops and rice. My children still like to playfully tease
me about the bloody and burnt chicken and burned fries I
once made. However, I would often drive through a fast food

restaurant, order pizza, or they would eat something that did
not need to be cooked.

We didn't have much money. Anthony was never
required to pay child support, and even if he had been, he
could not help us because he was in prison most of the time.
However, at one point I began receiving $256.00 a month

from Steve, which helped with after school daycare expenses.
I played with the kids as much as I physically could. Many
times, there was a fine line between 'mother' and 'friend’
though. It was hard discipling them. I was not good at it.
One night I thought about a letter that Wes had sent

to my mom’s house years before to see if I was still with Steve.
I decided to reach out to him to see how he was doing. We
were married two years later, so Nicole and Nick became
Wes’s step-children.

Wes helped stabilize the home environment and
motivated me to go back to college (I had tried before, but it

didn't work out). He was in graduate school studying
biochemistry during our marriage. He was receiving a
stipend, which along with my income helped us financially.

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