At 18, Gabrielle Gunther’s life looked nothing like she had imagined. She had just dropped out of college after barely finishing her first semester, was unemployed, and still living at home with her parents. She and her boyfriend were floating, directionless, when suddenly two little pink lines appeared on a pregnancy test. They didn’t believe it at first, so they bought six more, and each one confirmed what she already knew in her gut: she was pregnant.
Breaking the news to her parents wasn’t easy. Gabrielle couldn’t even bring herself to say the words, so her sister stepped in. Their mother, to everyone’s surprise, was thrilled. She had been waiting for grandchildren and saw this as her chance to reenter caregiving. Her father, exhausted after a 16-hour workday, didn’t share the same joy. He was worried and disappointed, but Gabrielle knew there was no way around the truth—they would have to face it together.
The months that followed were not simple. Job hunting was impossible once morning sickness turned into an all-day affair, leaving Gabrielle unable to keep even water down. Her boyfriend eventually found work, and things looked a little brighter for a while. They planned, dreamed, and imagined what their life might look like with a baby. But then everything unraveled. Gabrielle discovered he had been cheating, even while she was carrying their child. The betrayal was sharp and devastating, but she didn’t hesitate—she kicked him out of her parents’ house and braced herself for the rest of the pregnancy alone.
It was a lonely, heavy time. She was scared, angry, embarrassed, and heartbroken. There were moments when she wondered if she was making a mistake by bringing a baby into a fractured family. But her little girl came fast and fierce on a cold October afternoon. Gabrielle’s ex showed up for the birth and then disappeared six hours away again. That was when the fear really set in. She was officially a single mother at 18, clinging to her parents for support, trying to figure out how to give her daughter the life she deserved.
She and her daughter stayed in her parents’ home for three years. Gabrielle scraped together part-time retail work while taking college courses but still felt stuck. Watching her peers graduate and move forward while she was still crawling toward an associate’s degree stung deeply. Then, a small breakthrough came: a full-time nanny job with a family who welcomed her daughter and encouraged her to keep going. With their support, Gabrielle built her credit, bought her first car at 21, and started to believe in herself again, even if doubts still haunted her.
Moving out was the next milestone. She and her best friend rented a beautiful apartment, a giant step toward independence. But living with friends doesn’t always work out, and soon the friendship unraveled. Gabrielle was left struggling again, battling depression and anxiety, but she refused to give up. She worked harder, found another nanny position with a supportive family, and turned her focus toward a long-time dream: buying a home in a good school district before her daughter started kindergarten. Against all odds, she did it.
Yet even then, success felt fragile. Social media showed her peers graduating from grad school, climbing career ladders, traveling the world, and building picture-perfect families. Gabrielle compared herself endlessly, wondering why she couldn’t measure up and felt like she was failing her daughter, even when she was achieving her own goals.
But her daughter saw her differently. Every act of kindness, every bit of compassion, and every bit of intelligence her daughter displayed reminded Gabrielle that she was not a failure. She was the example, the role model, the proof that you could be knocked down and still rise, even if it didn’t look like everyone else’s story.
Gabrielle still wrestles with feelings of inadequacy. She still hears the voice whispering that she’s not enough. But she refuses to give up. She knows she’ll finish college one day, not for appearances or comparison, but for herself and her daughter. Until then, she keeps reminding herself, and others like her, that the timeline of life doesn’t have to look traditional to be meaningful. Her message is simple, yet powerful: you don’t have to have it all figured out. You may stumble and fall, but you are not failing if you keep going. One day, one step at a time, you’ll get to where you’re meant to be.
