Amber

I am a 31 year old woman from Wisconsin. I got married and moved to Morden to share a life with my husband of 12 years. I am a mother to a 9 year old girl and a 7 year old boy and currently halfway through pregnancy #3. Self image, worth, and confidence has been a hidden mind battle over the years. Those who know me now often claim that I am the most confident person in the room. But during the formative years of my life I remember struggling with my outward appearance, starting when I began wearing glasses in the 3rd grade for very poor vision. “Four eyes” was a familiar term from then on.

As I approached the pre-teen stage, my life was shaken upside down due to some unfortunate decisions my parents made. I was raised by my grandmother from the age of 10-18. A couple of years into living with her, it came to light that I had a different biological father than my sisters. Realization that I was unintentionally born to a young mother and father who weren’t planning a life together began to seed confusion and doubt in my existence. Who am I? Why am I here? Who do I look like? Act like? What background and genetics make we who I am? Question after question seemed to pollute my brain. Now, mix all of that with the usual peer pressures of the teenage years, society’s expectations and media influence. That recipe clouds judgment. However, as I have grown and matured I have found clarity. I have been able to accept that gray hair is a part of my genetic predisposition and childhood trauma can speed up depigmentation. I am no longer “bean pole”, “Olive Oil”, or part of the “IBTC” (itty bitty titty committee). Braces as an adult were painful and embarrassing, but I smile more confidently now. Each wrinkle, age spot, stretch mark, chicken pox and acne scar means I have lived, laughed, learned and loved. My ambitions now are no longer wrapped up in having the perfect Christina Aguilera penciled eyebrows, but to mentor and support other young women who are discovering their purpose and help them shine the gold that is hidden within them.