I'm from a small town in Alabama called Guntersville, about 45 minutes south of Huntsville. People say my town has more churches than people—and all the people go to church. Growing up, my father owned his own packaging company, but on Sundays, he preached at Victory Cornerstone church, in nearby Arab, Alabama. He started preaching there a couple years after my brother died of cancer when I was nine, and he's still doing it. But after everything that's happened, I don't go to that church anymore.
Guntersville has always been a conservative place where women, my mom included, played by the rules that were impressed upon them. Each decision was a family decision and you needed to consult your husband about everything. Women were taught to ask permission. I didn't love growing up there—I never felt like I was allowed to develop my own thoughts.
When I was 17, I had a boyfriend who was a year older than me. We'd talked about getting married, but I really wanted to go to college first. Then I found out I was pregnant.
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