I am very grateful for the opportunity to write this story. Thanks to the editor of Caribbean National Weekly for inviting me to write this. However, for very special reasons, I have to keep my real identity confidential so the names of either my children or myself will not be mentioned. This does not make me any less proud to relate this story.

I am the mother of four beautiful girls, who I raised all on my own over the past twelve years, when their father decided that five women was too much for him, so he preferred to take to himself another, and disappear to Boston. He must have suffered amnesia, because we never heard from him for years.

But I was not going to let his absence stop me from raising my girls to be princesses. I struggled between the jobs to find the money to pay the rent, put food on the table and clothes on their backs. However, I scheduled my time so that I am there in the morning to send them off to school, and to be home in the evenings to prepare their dinner and to help with homework. I must say that my eldest girl, adapted a very responsible attitude early, and became a second mother to her sisters.

Lord knows there were challenging days – days when one, or all four of the girls were ill and I had to stop from work to take care of them or take them to a doctor. On these days, I would not be paid, as both my jobs did not pay me when I was absent. But I persevered.

As the girls got older, the struggles got harder. These girls shot up like beanstalks. They outgrew their shoes and clothes within months after these were purchased. So, I always had to be buying new clothes. Since they were all going to the same school in Miramar, they refused to wear clothes that were handed down from one to the other. But I did manage to clothe them well.

Many times I could have taken help from one man or the other so that my financial burden was eased as I raised the girls, but I refused. I soon realized that jost of these men were really only trying to buy sexual favors from me so I chased them away. Moreover, I didn’t trust these men around my girls. Some people said I was being paranoid. That could be true. But, I was only trying to be a protective mother.

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Despite the challenges, I always tried to instill values in my girls. The same values my Jamaican mother and grandmother instilled in me. These values have served them well. My eldest girl is now 20, and my youngest 13, and no one has been able to lead them astray. Not that their peers, both girls and boys have tried. But, my girls have remained true to their values. They refuse to pierce their bodies, get tattoos, wear clothing that expose too much of their skin, listen to vulgar music, and do all the other crazy things that young people do today.

The main focus of my girls has been their books. My eldest daughter has just completed her second year at Florida Atlantic University, having entered there on a scholarship with at 3.8 GPA. My second daughter, who recently turned 18, will be starting college at Florida Memorial College in June. My other two girls are doing well in school.

Although I still face challenges, the Lord has bestowed many blessing on my girls and myself. The greatest blessing is that in a few weeks we will be moving into our own home. This has been made possible because my eldest girls, who now have part-time jobs, and myself, have been able to earn and save enough to be qualified to buy a condominium.

As a mother, each day I feel so fulfilled, as I see the progress my girls make, and the high sense of behavioral values that hey consistently live by, and the thanks they always give me.

As for their father? Well, I think he has turned around. He just re-discovered that he has daughters. He is trying to make amends for his absence, and, bless their souls, the girls have responded positively to him. Who know, maybe there is still a chance for him to be a good father. Only time will tell. But, despite all the challenges brought upon me by his absence, I have no regrets about being a single mother.