A positive pregnancy test at 17 turns high school priorities from grueling assignments to intimidating doctors appointments. Just when you thought playing flute over clarinet was the most difficult decision a teenager could make, you now choose to spend college working to support an ungrateful toddler over enjoying study nights with friends. For 17 years, my parents have worked tirelessly to recover from that positive test. 
Due to this small age gap, I have realized I’m a lot closer with my mom than most teenagers my age are. We also look almost identical. From our hair color down to to our shoe size. Since I  was 13, my mom has periodically passed clothes down to me because “someday she’ll fit them again, but for now I have to babysit them.” 
The most memorable is this dress: her senior prom dress, affectionately nicknamed “the pregnancy dress.” This dress is a reminder of the choice my mom made to give me a life worth living; and I spend every day wanting to be like her. Today, I fit her dress; tomorrow, I fit her legacy.

– SS

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more