A Teenage Mother, Living Life

Nikki Clemons is my manager at work, but I never knew she could be a very good friend. She has had a harder life than most people; her parents got divorced right after she was born. She really didn’t get to enjoy her teenage years because she got married and had kids very young. I have learned a lot about Nikki over a short amount of time. She is a strong and caring mother of two children that has had a very interesting life.

Let’s start from the beginning she was born in Milford, Ohio on July 6, 1979. She lived in Milford with her mother. She only went to Milford schools for kindergarten, and then her and her mother moved. She moved to a small suburb town in Eastman, Georgia. That is where she was raised going to Doge County Schools from 1^st grade until her sophomore year of high school. Nikki was a cheerleader at Doge County High School; everyone knew her and loved her. She met her best friend Liz, her freshman year. They are still best friends till this day.

The summer between her sophomore and junior year she moved back to Milford. To be with her mother’s side of the family, and there was a better job there for Nikki’s mother Valerie. She went to Milford High School for her junior and senior year, not knowing anyone but family.

She only knew one person that went to Milford high school at the time and that was her cousin Bridgett. Bridgett was a year behind Nikki though. She was very nervous to start a new school with no friends. Nikki knew no one in her lunch. The first day a football player saw her walking through the lunch line and right before she sat down with another group of kids the football player got her attention and told her to sit with them. That is how Nikki became what most people call “popular.” Nikki wasn’t a cheerleader at Milford but she still hung out with all of them. She is a very fun and good friend. Nikki was average height, brown hair, brown eyes and the guys said she was really cute. Nikki met the love of her life so she thought, her junior year. She spent all of her time with her boyfriend JP until she got a job at Fabrex in September of her senior year, making minimum wage. She was an administrative assistant. She loved her job and her boss. She could wear whatever she wanted to work and she got paid every Friday. Nikki moved out of her mother’s house in December of 1997 to live in an apartment with JP. JP loved Nikki very much; he always treated her right and thought the world of her.

Nikki started college, but only went for six month because she found out she was pregnant with her first child Kaleb. In 1998 Nikki had her son Kaleb at the age of 19. Nikki also married JP in 1998, before she had Kaleb. JP had gotten into drugs and wasn’t there for Nikki when she needed him most. He would be gone all hours of the night, never telling her where he was. JP didn’t have a job, so he didn’t pay for anything. Nikki would go in on Saturdays to work at Fabrex even though she was on maternity leave, just to make some extra income. She then found out she was pregnant again only a couple months after having Kaleb. Kalie, her second child, was born three days before Kaleb’s first birthday in 1999. After having Kalie and taking her maternity leave, Nikki went back to work at Fabrex full time.

JP was still in to drugs, and didn’t want anything to do with their children. Nikki ended up finally divorcing him because she found out JP had cheated on her. JP, Nikki and her mother decided it was cheaper to all move into a house. Nikki and JP were paying about $600 for rent and so was Nikki's mother. It was a lot less expensive with all of them chipping it on the house payment. They got a divorce JP moved out and that left Nikki her two children and her mother. The divorce settlement was over in December of 2003. The next five or six years Nikki spent all of her time with her kids, rarely going out with friends. There was always something to do, soccer for either Kaleb or Kalie. Kaleb played baseball and Kalie played softball. Nikki was always busy after work with her kid’s practices or games.

Nikki had hard teenage years and didn’t get to go to college because of getting pregnant at a young age. She wishes she could have waited to jump into a marriage and have children, but she wouldn’t give up being a mother for the world. Nikki said it is the greatest feeling ever. I think Nikki would have turned out a lot different if she didn’t grow up so fast, but either way Nikki is a brave, fun and loving mother and friend.

Nikki’s kids are getting older now and aren’t as dependent on her as they used to be. She now loves to go out with her friends and have a good time. Nikki has a lot of friends and always seems to have something going on in her life. Nikki is still single but she sure is dating. Nikki’s best friend is Liz just got home from a deployment Afghanistan for the Army. Liz is currently stationed in Washington. Nikki doesn’t get to talk to her as often as she would like and hardly ever gets to see her but their friendship is solid and nothing gets between them even thousands of miles away. Her other best friend would be Misty Roberts. Nikki met Misty her junior year of high school. Nikki likes to go out to the bars and hang out with old school friends and just have a good time. Nikki also has a group of friends you can almost find her with every weekend. There is Bridgett and David, Bridgett is Nikki’s cousin on her mom’s side. Mary and Mark, Mary is her aunt on her mom’s side. Meghan and Keith, Nikki lived right next to Keith and his family growing up in Milford.

Nikki and all of her friends do a lot of things together; some examples are go camping, layout by the pool, take the boat out and go tubing, hanging out around the campfire in the back yard at Megan’s house, go skiing and snowboarding at Perfect North. Nikki has a favorite thing to do with each couple. Megan, Keith and Nikki love to have date night during the week and go to Chick-Fil-A. Bridgett and Nikki’s favorite thing to do is go to a coffee shop every Monday morning for coffee and to catch up over the weekend just in case they didn’t spend it with each other. Nikki and Bridgett are closer than anyone else in their little group.

Bridgett and Mark got married recently. Nikki was Bridgett’s maid of honor; she threw the bachelorette party for her, helped with the decorations and the cake too. They had a Bengals themed wedding and since Nikki loves the Bengals she was so happy. She was so busy with her kids and helping plan the wedding she was in much need of a vacation. Which is where she was headed a week after their wedding. The group planed a honeymoon/vacation cruise to the Mexican islands. Nikki has one of the best times of her life on that cruise. She also ended up having an alcohol bill for over $800. She said it was well worth the money. She can’t wait to go on her next cruise with her group of friends.

Nikki is still looking for Mister Right, but doesn’t want to settle down quite yet. She is having fun going out with her friends and going on dates with different men. Nikki really didn’t have a young adulthood so she is somewhat enjoying in now. Nikki couldn’t be any happier with where she is at today. She loves her children and her friends and family. She looks forward to her children growing up, and going off on their own. Either they choose to college or to travel the world she will support them no matter what. Nikki still has more than half of her life left and she is ready to start it.