The young girl in the picture laughing is having the time of her life,
The young girl who is blowing out candles is 16 and is happy as can be,
The young girl with her friends isn’t worried about the future,
But the same young girl a year later is…
Sitting at school with a thousand worries and no one to help her,
Giving up her dreams of being a architect when she grows up,
Wishing she had never had sex the schools quarterback because now she regrets it

This young girl is now pregnant and is with a child,
When she has this child she will drop out of school and get a job,
The income will be low but she will support this child no matter what,
It is a vicious cycle, she knows because she was born because of it,
A few years later…
The young woman is working hard at a local Barns and Noble book store
She looks up when she hears her son’s voice, he is back from kindergarten
She smiles, this is her favorite part of the day, being with her son

Many years later…
She is lying in a hospital, she is old and ready to die
She looks at her son fully grown and is a successful doctor
She pats his cheek and closes her eyes for the last time
She remembers the day she had him and whispers,
“Remember the lesson and story I taught you, and I love you”
With that the young girl from many years ago dies