My all-time favorite woman, mentor, and (high school English) teacher said something I will never forget.
The day I told her I had become pregnant at the age of seventeen, she said to me, "Oh, you'll be just fine. This is just a detour, my friend. You'll still get where you need to go; you'll just take the long way around."
I have lived by that ever since.
She is the wisest woman I have ever known. Knowing what so many others didn't understand, she showed me that my child was not the abomination others saw him as. He was a gift, an opportunity to take a different route to my final destination. I am still me, I'm still going to be a strong, smart, successful woman, and along the way I am going to be his guide. For some reason almost every other person in my life couldn't see it that way, and I believe it was that perspective that allowed me to go forward with confidence in my role as a teen mother.
Mrs. Bean, Just-A-Detour is dedicated to you and your incredible example. Thank you for showing me that the challenges I face in this life are just that - a challenge - not a road block.
