@justjenniferjackson: I'm 40, and I'm embarrassed to admit this. 1. I have two kids from two different relationships, both unplanned. Neither man wanted to marry me. I still feel guilty my kids didn't get the family I wanted to give them. 2. I've been fired from almost every job I've ever had. Not because I wasn't good. Because I'm a single mom, and someone is always sick, always on break, always needing me.
 3. I spent 3 years in a relationship with someone who cheated, didn't pay bills, and kept stalling on commitment. I knew but stayed anyway, because I was convinced nobody else would want me.
 4. I failed English in college. I now make my living as a writer.
 5. I stopped taking care of my body entirely because I was in survival mode. Two weeks before my 40th birthday I went to the ER convinced I was having a stroke. It was a stress-induced migraine. My body was sending a message I'd been ignoring for years.
 6. I found an old photo of myself recently. I was 26, laughing at something. I cried because I missed her. She was fun. She was light. She wasn’t hardened or carrying the weight of everything yet. I want her back. There's a grief in letting go of the life you thought you'd have. It's bittersweet. You wish it had gone differently. You also love your kids and you're proud of the person you became. But sometimes you weep for the girl who had to go through all of it and you wish you could have protected her. This is not the life I planned at 26. But I wouldn't trade the person it made me. Follow along if you're in the middle of your own rebuild ❤️

Jennifer Jackson

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Region: US

Sunday 12 April 2026 21:14:08 GMT