Question: DU'ers raised by a single parent/ Single DU parents

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

Mother or father?

Please answer on header line and add any explanation you wish i.e. widowed, divorced, gay with children, never married or the like.

[Booberdawg]

1. Please clarify - is that two questions?

Raised by a single parent AND ALSO a single parent? And is the parent divorced, widowed, gay, etc. or are we divorced, widowed, gay, etc.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

4. No it's either. Were you raised by a single parent or ARE you a single

parent..if so which a mother or father.

[Booberdawg]

8. Okay. Was single parent - mother, never married.

[Alenne]

2. I lived with my mother but

My father still played a huge role in my life.

My parents were divorced. It was the best thing that ever happened to my family.

[Rainbowreflect]

3. My father died when I was five, mom raised 4 kids by herself.

[Kellanved]

5. mother

My parents were divorced when I was nine. My two younger brothers and me stayed with my mom.

[jayfish]

6. Divorce.

Jay

[WilliamPitt]

7. Raised by my mom after divorce, am only child

[Hell Hath No Fury]

9. Raised by Mom...

Dad split before I was a year old.

[Demobrat]

10. Mother

Desertion.

[MissMillie]

11. I AM a single parent

never married. (Alas, no one wants me!)

[radwriter0555]

13. I am a single parent, and I don't particularly want anyone!

Go figure!

[trof]

18. I do! I do!

but Miz t. says I can only have one.
I think she's stingey.
;-)

[StaggerLee]

12. Raised by a single parent ( my mother)

n/t

[LuLu550]

14. I'm a single mom

of a 16 year old girl and 20 year old man.

[devilgrrl]

15. Raised by Mom after divorce...

and I have decided to never marry as I learned it was all a bunch of BS growing up.

[trof]

16. mom, divorced

I was 4.
Only child.
Never saw him again.
I've been married for 34 years.
Have one daughter.
I'm OK.
;-)

[Tikki]

43. mom divorced, also...

I was 8.
Older brother went with father.
I stayed with mother.
We never saw or heard from them for 26 years
Then, saw the father once before he died
Brother is sorta trying to forge a relationship with me, now.
I've been married for 36 years.
I'm OK, also.
;-)

[geniph]

17. Raised by mother (some would say I was raised by wolves)

parents divorced when I was six weeks old, father left mother with six young children and not a red cent in support. Mother moved in with her girlfriend (yes, she was gay for a time). Said girlfriend served as my father - filled all the "father" type roles. I didn't even figure out they'd been gay until years later, when my mother had married a (horrible) man. I thought they were just "roommates" who had a lot of friends who also had female "roommates" with short hair who played a lot of sports. I never, ever, saw anything a child shouldn't see, so I don't think being reared by lesbians was substantively any different from being reared by straight parents to me.

[brook]

19. Single mother...

of two now grown children. Member of the first wives club.

[Cottonball]

20. deleted

[populistmom]

21. I just lived with my mom from ages 6-15.

My parents divorced when I was 6 and later remarried (each other again), so from 15 to 18, I lived with both parents. (No happy ending by the way, they divorced again by the time I was 20.) It was primarily just me. I have a brother, but he has severe disabilities and by the time he was about 8 or 9, was only home on the weekends.

[catzies]

22. I was a single parent when my daughter was born when I was 17

And I was still a single parent when she left the nest at 23.

[Redbear]

23. Dad died when I was 7.

Mom raised me and brother 13.

[jumptheshadow]

24. Dad disappeared when I was 13

Mom raised five kids alone. She did a pretty good job of it, too. We're all decent folks and we include: a prosecutor/manager, a fire captain, a high school librarian, a journalist turned company manager, and our beloved baby brother, a snowbelt beach bum.

Among us we've acquired: a B.A. from Columbia, a J.D. from New England School of Law, a BJ from Missouri, a B.A. from Buffalo State, and an M.A. from State University at Buffalo.

[rbnyc]

25. first one, then the other

After my parent's divorce I live with my mom until the end of 7th grade, then I lived with my dad until I was 17. Then I went off to school and got my own apartment.

[ikojo]

26. Divorced single mom (I had just turned 6 when they divorced)

raised seven kids alone. The only government assistance we got was free school lunches through the 10th grade. When I entered the 10th grade the government deemed my mom wealthy and took us off the free lunch program. At this time there were only two of us under 18 at home.

While I was growing up, my mom never made more than $5.00 an hour and didn't make that until 1980. My father moved to Florida when I was 12. He did not pay child support very regularly at all (about every six months my mom would get a nice size check but by then she had gotten behind on most bills and the money was much needed).

My dad died in 1983. Two of my sisters attended his memorial service in Florida. When they introduced themselves as "X's kids from Illinois" his friends in Florida were suprised and responded, "I didn't know X had any other kids." I wonder if their impression of him was knocked down a notch at that time. I don't understand how some men can leave a woman with kids and have very little to do with the very children they helped to bring into this world. Do men REALLY think their role as a parent ends with sperm donation?

[jumptheshadow]

40. We found out on the Internet that our Dad had died

Mom, who had never remarried, went into the Social Security office. It turned out he was making a lot more money than her. She asked the guy at the desk if she could apply for funds dating back to my dad's death. "Lady, you exhausted what you paid into the funds two years ago," the man replied.

Luckily, Mom hooked up with a good case worker who got her that money, which paid off the bulk of her car payments. The extra funds have really helped her. They also have helped heal a deep scar. "He's finally supporting me," she said at the time.

At 13, I was the oldest when Dad left. My youngest brother was about six.

I really admire my Mom.

[AquariDem]

27. Raised by two wonderful moms

Too bad they broke up three years ago. They'd been together for almost 20 years.

[Le Taz Hot]

28. Raised by my mother

who was/is mentally and emotionally ill and extremely abusive. Father left before I was 2. Goddess am I glad those days are over! The second I moved out of her house at age 17 I never looked back. Put myself through school and have had a GREAT life.

[Scurrilous]

29. Single Dad.

Divorced with joint custody of my 12 year old daughter who lives with me through mutual agreement with my ex-wife.

[ScreamingMeemie]

30. I was a single parent.

My daughter was born in 1990...her father? Who the heck knows where he is. I shouldn't say that, he tried to claim rights last year when he saw her picture in the paper. All this after not seeing her for 12 years. Sadly,snort, my husband adopted her in 1998 and we have lived happily every after. Those first 8 years were not fun though. We lived in a trailer, I worked 2 jobs to make ends meet, but I wouldn't trade having her for anything.

[Solly Mack]

31. Mother

divorce

[Cheswick2.0]

32. raised two sons alone for 10 years after my divorce

It sucked, the hardest thing I ever did and my sons deserved better than the asshole who walked out on us.

[BigDaddyLove]

33. Raised by my mother.....father left.......never married.

.

[newyawker99]

45. Same here BigDaddy. I was raised by my Mom

and I never knew my father. They were not married.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

34. kick

[MaryBear]

35. Raised three , now grown, children

as single mom.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

36. late night kick

[Waistdeep]

37. Single father

Widowed. Raised my son from 18 months onward. He's in college now. I have a serious case of empty nest syndrome.

[no_arbusto]

38. Mother

Dad is still a part of my everyday life. I see him about twice a week.

[REP]

39. Raised By Divorced Mother

My parents were married for a long, long time too.

I have no children and never will, thanks to the miracles of modern surgery!

[VermontDem2004]

41. Mother-Divorced

[peacefreak]

42. Divorced mother

of one beautiful(inside & out)grown daughter. I walked out on a very abusive man when she was 14.

[Bridget Burke]

44. Mother

Widowed with 3 children when I was 4. Maternal Grandmother helped.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

46. kick

[bleedingheart]

47. Raised by widowed mother

she did a fine job.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

48. Kick again

[Crewleader]

49. Raised By My Dad

divorced....I was 26 when he died.
I truly miss the times we went fishing together.

God Bless You Dad...I Miss You! O8)

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

50. kick

[Boudicea]

51. Single mother: straight, gay, straight

My daughter is 19 now, and we're best friends. :)

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

52. kick

[Maddy McCall]

53. Single Parent here, by CHOICE--and I am NOT looking for a father figure...

for my son, because I am perfectly capable of fulfilling both roles.