Summary: Melissa didn't mean to get pregnant. After 12 years of living in the foster care system, she's trying to build the family she never had. "The funny thing about a having a baby, especially a boy, is that he always pisses on me. Always. Any time I change him, he's always peeing on me. I don't know why. He's marking his territory. Like he says, 'This is mine.'"
Melissa first recorded with Radio Diaries in the late 1990's. Now 16 years later we're giving her a microphone again to hear what's happened since and how much has changed. Audio here includes her original diary and our recent podcast, where we meet the Melissa of today.
This story is part of the Teenage Diaries series produced by Radio Diaries for NPR.
Melissa's story is unique, but it also brings out universal aspects of teenaged motherood: I listened to this piece with a teenaged mom and the instructor at her school, a high school for teenaged moms, and they both recognized a lot in this piece.
The story is well told and sound-rich with parts of Melissa's life, including even the birth of her child. Melissa is realistic about her situation, but it is clear that she is determined to be a great mother. This is a great piece to stand on its own, or in a series on youth or motherhood.
None of the absolutes I expected to hear from a Teenage mother, negative or positive. I confess that at first, I didn't sense I was going to hear anything new and then I realized my neck hurt from leaning in. The sounds made me feel so present in that little apartment and then: the diarist tosses off some cold facts and honest feelings with the same lightness she uses to describe her social life - it's absolutely disarming. But "disarmed" you are privy to the too many layers of life and feelings cloaked in the simplicity of such a young person. Nice work.
VM
Comments for Melissa's Diary, Part 1: Teen Mom
This piece belongs to the series "Teenage Diaries"
Produced by Joe Richman/Radio Diaries
Other pieces by Radio Diaries
Rating Summary
2 comments
Sarah Elzas
Posted on April 09, 2004 at 03:34 PM | Permalink
Review of Melissa in New Haven: Teen Mom
Melissa's story is unique, but it also brings out universal aspects of teenaged motherood: I listened to this piece with a teenaged mom and the instructor at her school, a high school for teenaged moms, and they both recognized a lot in this piece.
The story is well told and sound-rich with parts of Melissa's life, including even the birth of her child. Melissa is realistic about her situation, but it is clear that she is determined to be a great mother. This is a great piece to stand on its own, or in a series on youth or motherhood.
Transom Editors
Posted on December 16, 2003 at 07:56 PM | Permalink
Review of Melissa in New Haven: Teen Mom
None of the absolutes I expected to hear from a Teenage mother, negative or positive. I confess that at first, I didn't sense I was going to hear anything new and then I realized my neck hurt from leaning in. The sounds made me feel so present in that little apartment and then: the diarist tosses off some cold facts and honest feelings with the same lightness she uses to describe her social life - it's absolutely disarming. But "disarmed" you are privy to the too many layers of life and feelings cloaked in the simplicity of such a young person. Nice work.
VM