Word: brennetta
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Marianne's financial situation makes her more secure than many single mothers. Brennetta Simpson, 44, an assistant dean of music at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., wasn't thrilled about going through childbirth, so she decided to adopt. But she had serious concerns about whether she could afford to do so on her university administrator's salary. Another problem: Who would take care of her child if she were to die unexpectedly? She got her best friends in California to agree to step in as surrogate parents in that event...
Shortly after the adoption agency called her on Christmas Eve 1996 with news that a baby girl had just arrived, Brennetta had a quick dose of reality. Imani-Brenae, 17 days old when Brennetta adopted her, woke up screaming every two hours all night long. "I thought, Oh, my God, it's just me," she says. "What was I thinking? That I could raise a baby alone...
...make ends meet, Brennetta slashed her living expenses and took a second job teaching a youth choir. It was an exhausting time. She set up a playpen in her office to keep Imani with her at work. Even the smallest tasks could be a trial. "Try taking a shower holding your baby in your arms," she says. She remembers talking to a student one day when her mind suddenly went blank. "I was so tired," she says. "I was an emotional wreck." Things are smoother now that Imani is nearly four and relatives are nearby to pitch in; indeed, Brennetta...
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