Teen Pregnancy
As an unplanned child herself, Sarah understands the full weight of early pregnancy. She was raised by her grandma because her mom was too young to take responsibility for herself or her child yet. Sarah tells her readers how easily teen pregnancy becomes a pattern. Her grandma got pregnant young. Consequently she had many husbands and moved all the time, always searching for a stable environment to raise her child. For her part, Sarah's mom lacked the structure, support, or authority to overcome the unique challenges of her situation. She also became pregnant young. Only realizing the unusual nature of her upbringing when she was an adult, Sarah notices how profoundly different her life would have been if she had also gotten pregnant young. She was the exception, who broke the cycle in her family, but she herself is the product of a teen pregnancy. This leaves Sarah conflicted because she cannot hate her mother for giving birth to her, nor can she persuade herself to feel guilty for living differently.
Poverty
Sarah's past is colored by poverty. She grew up in a rural community in Kansas where everyone worked hard, died young, and mostly kept to themselves. These people carried intense burdens, Sarah recalls. The threat of death was constant because they worked with heavy machinery often, without proper safety measures. Because she was born into poverty, Sarah notes the sharp contrast between her life now compared to when she was younger. In her busy city life, Sarah can easily forget how essential government support was for her family and others like them. She survived because of the welfare system, but now she sometimes forgets how important these programs were in her life. She sees how friends around her don't even know why these programs could be necessary. Without seeing poverty firsthand or living in it, people can easily come to the wrong conclusion and blame the poor people for the circumstances, but many are like Sarah and her mom, never really having received a chance at economic success from birth.
