My name is Veronica, and I w as born November 22, 1966 t o a t eenaged mother who didn’t wan t to settle do wn, and be a mother . The transition…My grandmother , came t o New Y ork and got me fr om a neighbor tha t m y mother left me with f or 2 week s. After r ea lizing that she w asn’t coming back, she mad e cont act with m y “MO THER”. This lady nourished me not only from a f ood standpoin t, but she taugh t me how t o be a woman. I made a v ow tha t I would nev er abandon m y children and I pr aise God, that I kep t that pr omise. I was moles ted fr om the ag e of 9 to 15 b y m y aunt ’ s husband, who I f org ave not long ago b ef ore he di ed. With this came anger , depression, and guilt. It made us hav e to mov e fr om T e xas b ack to Alabama, after I r evealed all t o m y Big Mama (that ’ s what we called m y grann y) . I became a t eenaged mother and g ave birth t o my firs t beautiful baby girl a t the age of 16. My daughter's f ather denied her i n fro