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Seattle's single moms find strength in one another ( Liberals in a Blue State )
Seattle Post-Intelligencer ^ | May 13, 2006 | PAUL NYHAN

Posted on 05/13/2006 3:19:35 PM PDT by george76

Randi Anderson knew she was on her own the day her son was born 22 months ago when she drove herself to the hospital.

Long before Anderson pulled up to Swedish Medical Center, her film-school boyfriend was gone.

Twenty hours after she arrived at the hospital, she joined the growing ranks of single mothers.

It is a group that often feels isolated, suffers higher-than-normal rates of depression and believes it carries a stigma in a culture that celebrates marriage.

"I certainly feel like it's written across my face," Anderson, 34, said.

"We've been told it's not OK to be a single mom."

Mother's Day is increasingly celebrated without fathers in this country.

In 2004, 36 percent of all births were to unmarried women, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports, even as the teenage pregnancy rate fell...

Anderson's decision created obstacles many couples don't face -- two fewer hands to change diapers, feed the baby and give baths -- she used her experiences to create a new resource for Seattle's single mothers.

Sunday, Anderson will celebrate Mother's Day with other single moms at a potluck brunch, marking the six-month anniversary of the support group, Single2Mother, an online community that she founded.

The group represents one of a few private efforts to help single mothers, whose numbers jumped from 3 million in 1970 to 10 million in 2000.

(Excerpt) Read more at seattlepi.nwsource.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: boyfriend; day; filmschool; filmschoolboyfriend; mom; motherhood; mothers; mothersday; single; singlemom; singlemothers; sluts
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To: SandwicheGuy; digger48

I have no problem with morality. I have a problem with false morality -- of men who are quick to attach names to a woman, but fail to recognize or emphasize the equal moral failure of the man.


41 posted on 05/13/2006 4:14:08 PM PDT by Chanticleer (Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point. Lewis)
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To: Conservative til I die
Randi is a whore who lacks self-respect just like all the other women indulging in "shack up" relationships. ...... What a wonderful thing to say. Let me guess, you consider yourself Christian?

So there you are, happily mouthing platitudes with not a clue when along comes that mean ole' truth like a dash of cold water in the face and you can only squeal about being Christian... Did I get that right? Not having consequences for bad behaviour engenders more bad behavior and you are an enabler if you believe that. Think, man, think, about the conseqences of such thoughts before you speak.

42 posted on 05/13/2006 4:21:27 PM PDT by SandwicheGuy (*The butter acts as a lubricant and speeds up the CPU*)
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To: Emmet Fitzhume
She reaps what she sows.

When my wife was single and got pregnant, her oldest sister and brother-in-law, who are pro-life activists, were worried she was going to have an abortion. When she said she wasn't, they told her that the baby would be a blessing to her.

They were right. My step-daughter is now an incredible, self-sufficient young adult. My wife went on to marry me -- and I like to think I'm a decent husband -- and to have our son.

So it looks like my wife's sister was right. Whatever my wife may have sowed, as a single mother, she reaped a blessing.

43 posted on 05/13/2006 4:23:40 PM PDT by Celtjew Libertarian
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To: SandwicheGuy

See #43.


44 posted on 05/13/2006 4:24:29 PM PDT by Celtjew Libertarian
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To: george76

"I certainly feel like it's written across my face," Anderson, 34, said.

"We've been told it's not OK to be a single mom."

If she aborted the baby and wore it around her neck, she would be treated as a hero in Seattle.


45 posted on 05/13/2006 4:28:15 PM PDT by LA Conservative (Al Gore in 2008 - The gift that keeps on giving)
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To: Chanticleer
Are we ever going to get past the double-standard, men who want their daughters to remain virgins, but their sons, they give a wink and a nudge?

Well, I'm not a betting man but usually I go with the fastest and the biggest. So in this case I'll go with a couple of million years of evolution and go with 'Not in your lifetime, or mine, or any of my descendants.' Two generations of FemLib does even make a punctuation mark in this story. Best to get over it.

46 posted on 05/13/2006 4:28:33 PM PDT by SandwicheGuy (*The butter acts as a lubricant and speeds up the CPU*)
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To: digger48
I am glad you raised your children. It was certainly your responsibility, as it is the responsibility of every parent. Your children are single and childless -- that proves nothing one way or another about morality. There's always birth control and abortion. It may prove you have taught them good sense. But what was your complaint... that the girls didn't keep their legs together, or that they didn't use protection?

If you are Christian, read the John 8. The woman was "caught in the act of adultery," which means the man was also caught, but the Pharisees neglected to bring him along to be accused. By law, both were guilty of adultery.

If every man, who desired to hurl the words slut and whore at a woman like the stones of the Pharisees, looked at their own lives, their own thoughts, their own chastity, they would each drop the stones like the Pharisees did.

We should recognize that the men in these women's lives share at least an equal part of the blame, if blame is to be assigned.

47 posted on 05/13/2006 4:30:53 PM PDT by Chanticleer (Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point. Lewis)
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To: Chanticleer
We should recognize that the men in these women's lives share at least an equal part of the blame, if blame is to be assigned.

Especially those men who knock their girlfriends up and then haul ass out of town.

48 posted on 05/13/2006 4:37:12 PM PDT by EveningStar
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To: Chanticleer

Please don't presume that abortion is an option in my world. Or my childrens.


49 posted on 05/13/2006 4:37:59 PM PDT by digger48
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To: Chanticleer
I have no problem with morality. I have a problem with false morality -- of men who are quick to attach names to a woman, but fail to recognize or emphasize the equal moral failure of the man.

I respect your opinion, but it does not matter. Next time you take a shower, take a long, contemplative look and ground yourself, Men and women are different. Vive la difference, but you cannot gloss over that. We live with we have and set outselves up for failure when we strive for what we cannot obtain, even if it was worth it.

50 posted on 05/13/2006 4:39:37 PM PDT by SandwicheGuy (*The butter acts as a lubricant and speeds up the CPU*)
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To: blueminnesota
I was a Vietnam era bride at 16 yrs. old, and by the time I was 19 yrs. old, I was an abandoned wife with two infants.
Funny how the bitter divorced guys seem to always forget there are plenty of women like me.

Anyhow, I got a night job and no sleep for two yrs. I eventually ran into Mr.X, who worked in the same trendy bar as I did, and was a college frat boy at the time. He saw me waiting for one of my three buses to take my sick baby to therapy one day, and gave me a ride. (Get out your handkerchiefs!) It was not love at first sight, it was necessity, it was a life ring to a drowning woman, but it worked. Long story short, after 30 yrs. and a civil divorce, we are still chugging along. I sort of love him without realizing it sometimes!

I imagine that tomorrow will be very hard for single mothers, and you cannot imagine how cruel some people can be (the lesser people with a need to feel superior to somebody) so I hope that the decent ones get a second chance, and try to build a solid family. Above all, GET THE WEDDING RING! None of that "free milk" BS if you have kids...
51 posted on 05/13/2006 4:40:35 PM PDT by ishabibble
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To: stands2reason

She's not obligated to do that.


52 posted on 05/13/2006 4:41:53 PM PDT by ShandaLear (Gringos Unite!!!)
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To: Celtjew Libertarian
Whatever my wife may have sowed, as a single mother, she reaped a blessing.

I commend you. And I admire all those who have made a risky gamble and come out a winner. I knows others who have successfully negotiated that tricky path. But having seen the bloody aftermath and financial ruin of others who have trodden that path ... Brother, you are a better man than I.

53 posted on 05/13/2006 4:46:54 PM PDT by SandwicheGuy (*The butter acts as a lubricant and speeds up the CPU*)
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To: Libertina; moneypenny; Kaylee Frye; Clintonfatigued; wallcrawlr; Lucky2; GretchenM; ferri; ...
Thanks to george76 for the ping.


Say WA? Evergreen State ping

FReepmail sionnsar if you want on or off this ping list.

Ping sionnsar if you see a Washington state related thread.

54 posted on 05/13/2006 4:47:37 PM PDT by sionnsar (†trad-anglican.faithweb.com† | Iran Azadi 2006 | SONY: 5yst3m 0wn3d - it's N0t Y0urs)
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To: Emmet Fitzhume

Are you for real?


55 posted on 05/13/2006 4:49:18 PM PDT by EveningStar
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To: george76

Well, atleast she didn't abort and make it all look like she was perfect, when really she had murdered a child.


56 posted on 05/13/2006 4:52:20 PM PDT by GOP Poet
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To: Celtjew Libertarian

You're a good man.


57 posted on 05/13/2006 4:53:28 PM PDT by EveningStar
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To: Disambiguator

That's what happens when you spread for a loser.


58 posted on 05/13/2006 4:53:30 PM PDT by Kozak (Anti Shahada: " There is no God named Allah, and Muhammed is his False Prophet")
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To: Hodar

They chose to move in with a single mother. They could have dated without living with her.


59 posted on 05/13/2006 4:57:01 PM PDT by marajade (Yes, I'm a SW freak!)
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To: Paulus Invictus

"These feminazis represent the end of our society as we know it."

That's generalizing.


60 posted on 05/13/2006 4:58:56 PM PDT by marajade (Yes, I'm a SW freak!)
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