“I have lived a full life of service to my community.”

Tammi, 64, USA

I had an abortion the end of my senior year of high school. The fantasy of a big white wedding and a houseful of kids never filled my head. What did, was world travel and adventure, fueled by my incessant love of reading.

My boyfriend at the time was angry that I did not want to marry him (he ended up never leaving our hometown, married, and eventually divorced another classmate after three children). I went on to earn a B.A. and two master’s degrees in education. I traveled the world, living overseas for a year. Now facing retirement, I am surrounded by loving friends, family, and yes, children, just not my own.

I always prided myself as being a realist, and I knew that I did not have the “emotional bandwidth” to raise children. In fact, more often than not, I notice harried parents in public herding their children, rushing off to one event or another, and nobody is really enjoying themselves. I did not want to spend my Saturdays at soccer games.

Instead, I have lived a full life of service to my community through my career and volunteerism. I like to say that I helped raise thousands of children as an educator without changing one diaper. And, I don’t have any cats!

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