As I sit here and read these replies I am in awe of all of you. Each one of you have made the world such a better place! We should all be proud of ourselves. A bit more about me: I got married at 16, had 4 kids all two years apart. My second baby died at 2 months from crib death. I was 19, it devastated me. Two more kids, then I figured out what was making that happen and that stopped. (Haha) Marriage was awful, well actually it was who I was married to, 8 years older than me, and I knew I had to support myself and the kids and find a way out. Went to classes at night at the grade school to get my GED and once I got that there was no stopping me. I drove old broken down cars, 120 miles a day round trip to go to community college to earn a degree in Respiratory Therapy which I did while taking classes to become a nurse. I had a Pell grant and couldnt believe that there was that kind of financial help and wanted to take advantage of it so I was doing 27 credits a quarter( had special permission) to learn all I could. I would get the kiddies in the tub at night after dinner, read to them before putting them to bed so I could study. Times were hard. Very hard. Never got child support or any help from family. I have ended up with my respiratory therapy, CRTT, plus my nursing degree then also I am certified operating room nurse, CNOR. When my youngest was 18 I married my now husband and he told me I didnt have to work anymore if I didnt want to. Life is good.