The Crisis Narrative

The Crisis Narrative

It was four in the morning in early August; seventeen year old Monica Adams was holding her niece, Abigail May, for the first time. Weighing only five pounds, Abigail was very tiny in her arms. As Monica held her, she tried to realize what was happening at that moment; I’m an aunt, she thought. She tried to grasp the feeling of being an aunt, but she couldn’t. It was all too surreal for her.

It all began December of Monica’s senior year of high school. She could remember the day almost as if it had happened yesterday. Out running errands with her mother, her cell phone rang. It was Tony, her then 18 year old brother. “Let me talk to mom,” he demanded of her. Since she was driving, she really didn’t mind giving into his command, but yelled at him not to be so rude anyways. As her mother conversed with Tony she began asking questions like “Why?”, “Who is it”, “How old is she?”, “How do you know her”. She then went on to tell him that the girl needed to go to a doctor and that they needed to tell the parents. Then, before she hung up the phone, she asked, “It’s not yours, is it?” He must have said no because she didn’t flip out.

Once off the phone, Monica asked her mother what was going on. “Oh some girl he knows got pregnant and he wanted to know what advice to give her,” she answered. “Who’s the girl”, Monica inquired. The answer: an 18 year old junior at Newville High.

Her mother had to say no more. Monica knew instantly why her brother had called and asked those questions. He wanted to know how his mother would react to something like that, so he hid it behind the old “I have a friend who has a problem” gimmick. There was no doubt that it was Dorothy, Tony’s girlfriend that was the girl who had gotten pr...

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...eep the baby.

Two days later, Dorothy and Abigail were released from the hospital. The adoption papers had been signed before they were released, so Pam and John could take Abigail straight home. You could see the joy on their face as they left the hospital as a new little family. They finally had a child to love and cherish.

Over the next few weeks things slowly fell back into the normal routine, like it had never happened, but you could tell things were especially hard for Dorothy, Tony, and Mrs. Adams. Mrs. Adams was torn in two over the fact that she had given away her first grandchild; and although Dorothy and Tony were heartbroken over giving up their first child, they realized that the adoption was for the best. They now had a second chance to try to succeed in life. And as for Abigail May; there will never be another child who will be loved as much as she.