• Mothering Without a Net. An essay on being a homeless single mom.

  • Jun 18 2024
  • Length: 15 mins
  • Podcast

Mothering Without a Net. An essay on being a homeless single mom.

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  • Summary

  • This is the essay that really began my writing career and tells the foundational story of how became, I guess, who I am now and who I was then. Reading this essay again, after so long (It's been 23 years since I wrote it and 27 or so since I lived it) made me laugh in a few places. The prices are insane! $550 for an apartment?? 79 cents for marshmallows? A dollar for juice? Wow. But the other things ring true.

    There is a bit of an epilogue at the end of this essay. I do correct a few things that I was embarrassed about in the original telling. Had I known this story would go so far beyond this essay - heck, it was almost a movie - I would have been more honest, I think in that first effort. But it was a hard thing to admit at the time - or at least to put out publicly even though I have always known it was my fault that my daughter was so brutally hurt. While it was my ex who didn't supervise them, the dogs were mine. And I will bear that guilt forever.

    This essay and the book that followed, "Without a Net: Middle Class and Homeless (with kids) in America," published by Viking way back in 2005 but shockingly still in print - has been studied and discussed in college classrooms everywhere. I have traveled and spoke at hundreds of homelessness conferences and spoken to many homeless people at this point. What I do know is that it's not getting better.

    The National Alliance to End Homelessness has been at the forefront for so long, if you're interested, check them out at endhomelessness.org

    Anyway here's the link to the OG essay: https://www.salon.com/2001/08/28/homeless_mom/

    And I hope you enjoy this - the lucky 13th episode - of Real Quick.

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/backspace-essays-on-everything-with-michelle-kennedy--6186916/support.
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