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C - RIDING IN CARS WITH BOYS - FULL

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Jessi

Thank you SO much, Kemi! I see so much of my life in this movie (which I first saw when I could only resonate with 15 year old Bev because I was 15 at the time) that it's stayed one of my favorites. If you don't want to read a veritable book of a comment, then definitely move on at this point! I'm an oldest daughter who was very close with my father. He was my softball coach from the time I was 6 until I was 9. He told me often that I was more intelligent than anyone could be and, as a child, that was a lot to live up to. He had so many hopes and dreams for me. When I saw this movie for the first time, I saw myself in 15 year old Bev except I wasn't impulsive or dumb enough to have a baby so young. I had a future to get to! At 20, I started experimenting with drugs. I was a country girl in the city (Atlanta) and everyone I knew in the scholarship dorms got there because their parents were able to buy them extra tutoring lessons, extra learning camps, and they never spent the day looking for aluminum cans for the 5cents apiece they'd get them. I'd worked so hard to get there and I had a Potential (with a capital "P") to reach. I had to keep up. But everyone seemed to be smarter than I was, everyone just knew more. I'd never been offered drugs before but I thought these kids were just...better than I was. They knew what they were doing and were going somewhere. And I really enjoyed them. All of my anxiety and stress and the weight that was always on me just melted away. So, I did far too much and did a lot of very risky things. At 21, I discovered I was pregnant. I'd assumed - because I'd had multiple partners without protection - that I was somehow immune from pregnancy. I held my breath when I had my first STD test after finding out I was pregnant...luckily, I was clean, and my baby - a little bean with a heartbeat - was healthy. I'd last used before it was possible for the baby to be affected, thank god. I initially went into the doc appt thinking I'd be asking for abortion services, but, then (in a tactic I know now was meant to be manipulative) they offered me an ultrasound...and I saw him. I couldn't hurt him. I was young, alone, and full of every hormone and emotion it's possible to have...so, I called my mother. I told her that I was having a lot of "boyfriends" and...she asked if I needed money for birth control. I told her that the issue was that the birth control was no longer needed. She told me the best thing I'd ever heard another person say to me: "Jessi, you aren't the first woman this has happened to. And you won't be the last. Don't be so dramatic." I was in the line for Popeyes Cajun chicken when I called her. I had been dieting for most of my life but, at this point, I figured, what the hell? My father, however, stopped speaking directly to me. He did this throughout my entire pregnancy. I left my job, moved back home - they gave me my old room and my mom begged and borrowed to get the nursery (my bedroom) looking as perfect and put together as it could for the baby. My father went to see his grandmother (my Nanny - who was old from the time I was born, it seemed). She was his favorite person in the world. She took him in when he was 16 and his stepfather made his mother throw him out of the house. She was a very special and wonderful woman. Anyway, she told him that he was being a "complete ass" and that a baby should be a blessing that the whole family rejoices and supports. That he was my "village" and he was failing his grandchild. God, she was a wonderful woman. When he was born, Jack was absolutely perfect. He still is. And he's 17 now. I was a single mother and did a lot of things I'm not necessarily proud of to keep him happy and healthy. I also did many things as a mother that I look back on with extreme regret. I think every parent has those little secret moments when they rose their voice just a little too much, or ignored their child for a few minutes longer than necessary just to clench their ears shut from the piercing sounds they can make. I had a lot of those. And, as a parent, you get to see your worst moments transform into their damage. That's my punishment and my repentance is to accept him for who he is and continue to help him to have the best life he can. Happily for all of us, I met my husband when Jack was 2 and Jack has no memories when he didn't have a "Daddy." He has a little sister who has never felt like a 1/2 sister to him (per his own words). Happily for all of us, I didn't marry Jack's father because he was a drug addict and I remembered this movie (honestly...no exaggeration there). I never asked for child support because the man was not prepared to be a father or a partner. I kept my baby because I realized I had a support system and the only reasons not to would be selfish. I am fully pro-choice, and I made mine. Jack saved me. Just like Jason saved Bev. She was on a reckless path and would have eventually wound up in the same situation she was in or worse...but she was granted her son. This movie means so much to me because it emphasizes that there is not a one among us who is perfect, and - despite our mistakes - we're all just really trying our best. Again. Thank you, Kemi. And thank you to anyone who read my story!

Sincerely, K.S.O.

My dearest Jessi - you truly do not look like what you have been through. What a great testimony! You overcame. Once I started reading - I could not stop till I got to the end of it. If I could pay to have you tell the whole story - I would, You should share this with the world, so inspiring. I am thankful that you shared this beautiful story with us. Thank you so much. I am truly better for it.

Elle Jay

This was a movie I watched all of the time with my grandma when I was young. We loved this film. I’m the product of a teen Mom- so I understood Jason’s plight! Definitely see things different as I’ve gotten older. Great reaction Kemi!

Jason M

I haven’t seen this movie in at least 20 years. It’s a real gem. The performances are amazing and it’s a very human story. Thank you, as always, for sharing your reaction to this one. And Jessi - thank you for sharing your story.