midgeling: life in a shoe.

And I wish I was wrong. One of HK's former friends who lives down the street from me just sent out a Myspace bulletin that really has me disturbed. She and her boyfriend are expecting a baby and thrilled about it.

She is F O U R T E E N years old. At least her older sister waited till she was like 19. I have no idea how old Marisa's boyfriend is, but he has a moustache. HK and Marisa drifted apart sometime toward the end of elementary school. Marisa did things that HK couldn't stand like spreading false rumors, lying, stealing, and doing naked table dances for her older brother's friends. The table dance thing was what made me say one day "I hate to say it, but she'll probably be pregnant by 16." I was a couple of years off.

She is the same age as HK. They are in the same grade (different schools). We used to carpool. They used to spend the night at each others houses. I used to try to have her spend as much time at our house as i could because I thought she needed the influence of a more traditional, stable family life - at least sometimes. But it got to be too much and I had to look out for HK and the other kids most of all. And HK couldn't take her any longer.

I am 36. I can't imagine being faced with the prospect of being a grandmother right now. Marisa's mom is at least 10 years older than me and already has a grandson. But still, this is a reality check that makes me glad that so far, HK and I have a good relationship, we talk about a lot of stuff, and she trusts me with most things going on in her brain. Mr Midgeling and I keep pretty close tabs on her. She does hang out at her boyfriend's house about one evening a weekend, but they are always supervised. And also, I trust them way more than some strange set of people. I know HK's boyfriend's family through church. We have gotten to know each other and I really like and respect his family.

But wow. Pregnant at 14. That totally freaks me out.