From the Outside Looking In

I ran across a friend's Facebook post a couple months ago that struck the pit of my stomach. Her post went something like, "Check on your single friends who do not receive housing assistance or food stamps"(SA). It got me to thinking how many single parents are suffering in silence. Suffering because they have chosen to take on their responsibility vice playing the victim. Their whole focus is on providing a good life for their kids by providing love, necessities, love and hopefully pleasant life experiences. I say hopefully, because some have to work two/three jobs to achieve at least a decent life for their children and some how play the double role of both Mom and Dad. This results in decrease quality time between parents and their children. For the parent, the guilt remains like the stain of red wine on white carpet. The pure innocence of desiring to raise ones kids in a safe and loving environment evolves into two full-time jobs. The single parent is slightly relieved if family helps out, but if family is not involved, the task is far from innocuous - honorable and admirable, but equally stressful. I often times wonder if those outside this space realize the vastness of this responsibility or if they chose to ignore it because it's not something they have to deal with. What are your thoughts?

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