Annmarie Throckmorton, M.A.
- Apr 3, 2019

Young Mothers Who Have No One To Help Them

Long ago I saw a young white woman, a girl really, standing on the sidewalk in broken-down shoes crying. When I asked her what was wrong she said she had several small children and could not make enough money to provide and care for them. Through her tears she said, "No one is helping me." I had no extra money, I had no extra time, and I was moving out-of-state the next day, so I did not help her. My heart is still broken.

Long ago I saw a young black woman, a girl really, pulled over to the side of the highway in a broken-down car with several small children. As I sped past her car I saw the tears in her eyes, she was desperate to get her children safely off of that four-lane highway full of speeding trucks. She saw that I was exiting the highway to help her and she began to pull her children out of their car seats, but the traffic was too fast, the exit did not turn back, and I could not find her again because I did not know the route, so I did not help her. My heart is still broken.

This stranding of young mothers should never happened, and I have seen it many, many times in my long life, with no way to help them.