by Lianne Castelino www.whereparentstalk.com

Had a 2-minute conversation in a parking lot late yesterday afternoon that absolutely floored me.  It was with a lady who I see off and on at school and church.  I didn't even know her name til yesterday.  I do know that she has a daughter who is in the same grade as one of my kids.  Her daughter is strikingly beautiful with long flowing blonde hair and a very sweet smile.  Her mother once told me how when Simone was 10 months old, her father left them — took off on his wife and family.

Now Simone's mother is pregnant.  The last time I saw her she was telling me she had met someone new after many years and was over-the-moon happy.

After I congratulated her about her pregnancy, she told me the story.  She said she always, desperately wanted Simone to have a sibling, but was just not meeting “the guy”.  So she began researching other means.  In-vitro fertilization was way too expensive for a single mom so she found another route — involving a sperm donor, but much less expensive.  

She and Simone picked the traits they wanted to have in their child, and sibling online.  It took and bang she is due in June.  She told me her biological clock had almost stopped ticking — now at the age of 42.  She was so happy to finally give her daughter the gift of a sibling.  Then at about 5months into her pregnancy, her boyfriend took off.  Though he was informed of her desire and clearly knew about the baby, he could not handle it.  How could it happen again.

Wow.

Such courage, determination, peseverance and love.  To have that much desire for something, especially something as monumental as having a baby and to forge ahead alone and as a single mom against all odds — is nothing short of incredible.

She remains undeterred at soon being a mom of two with no support.  She has come to the conclusion that she is better off alone than with a partner who is just tagging along for the ride.

She knows she's having a baby boy and soon will have the family she always wanted.  Simone will have that sibling —- finally.

Two short minutes that left me dumbfounded, happy, angered, encouraged and mostly in complete admiration of the strength of a woman, and the love of a parent.