To write about the life of a single parent holds great interest to me as I live and breathe it every day.  I have experienced many aspects of single parenting both good and bad which has brought me much grief and happiness within my journey.

A single mother raised me with my twin brother and although I admire and respect her in so many ways, it was certainly not a position I wanted to find myself in. Before I came to the decision, and before I found the strength to tackle this journey of being a parent on my own, my first thoughts were I did not want to be a part of the statistics. I did not want my child to grow up in a single parent environment.  Something I have learnt and I stand by is that life has no guarantees. Ultimately, we have to do what is right by those we love and who we are responsible for as well as ourselves.

I have become someone who is assertive in life and I practice this nearly every day. I have found strength from being a single parent and know even at the lowest of times I can gather myself and keep going, because I have to. I witnessed firsthand a mother who overcame so many obstacles in her path to raise two healthy, loving and high moral children.  What is interesting is I have followed a similar path to my mother.  Not only by becoming a single parent, which obviously was not in my plan I have also taken on studies later in life as my mother did. I have created a career in which I am working towards expanding, and I have created an environment for my child I feel he appreciates and values.

Often people ask for advice and two common questions is how do I survive and how do I manage? Throughout my journey, I have had to search for answers and I have endured some horrific circumstances that have left me in a crisis.  In saying this, I have found benefits of being a single parent and one of these is the power within and the knowing that I can do this, and do it on my own.  Through my experience, I feel and hope others can benefit from my knowledge and my journey. I hope they may learn something, feel supported and not alone, and find strength and power within themselves.